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Édouard Philippe, France’s first prime minister under Emmanuel Macron, has called on the president to appoint a new prime minister to push through the budget and then call early presidential elections to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis. Philippe’s comments come in the wake of Sébastien Lecornu’s resignation on Monday, after his attempt to form a government collapsed, marking France’s third prime ministerial change in a year.
Macron has tasked Lecornu with presenting a last-ditch plan for stability by Wednesday, but support for the president is waning, even among his closest allies. Philippe, who now leads the centrist Horizons party, said he does not favor Macron’s immediate resignation but stressed that the president must live up to his mandate.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Attal, leader of Macron’s Renaissance party and a former prime minister, publicly questioned the president’s decisions, suggesting a need to share power with other parties as Macron’s attempts to regain control have failed multiple times.
Once mainly challenged by opposition parties, the growing calls for change from Macron’s own allies underline the severity of the political turmoil. Macron, in office since 2017, faces a shrinking parliamentary majority after last year’s snap elections, deepening the crisis.
