Overview

• Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned roughly 14 hours after unveiling a minority centre‑right cabinet, then was tasked by President Emmanuel Macron with a 48‑hour effort to assemble a workable arrangement.
• Lecornu consulted governing allies and met left‑wing parties, while Marine Le Pen threatened a censure motion and the hard‑left LFI warned it would move against any continuation of Macron’s policies.
• Socialist leader Olivier Faure pressed for a left‑wing prime minister or suspension of the 2023 pension reform, a step floated by Élisabeth Borne but opposed by LR, Horizons and some Macron allies.
• Economy Minister Roland Lescure cautioned that suspending the pension overhaul would cost hundreds of millions of euros in 2026 and billions in 2027, with France’s public debt near 115% of GDP.
• Lecornu is set to present the outcome of his talks in a France 2 interview at 20:00 local time, as an LFI bid to launch a procedure to remove Macron failed and BFMTV aired images of the president walking alone along the Seine.