Reappointed French PM Lecornu says new cabinet must not give in to partisan interests

France’s newly reappointed prime minister said on Saturday that there weren’t ″a lot of candidates″ for his job and called for a government free from partisan politics.

Speaking during a visit to a police station in the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, Lecornu said "I will do my duty, and I will not be a problem," he said, warning that his cabinet "must not be hostage to partisan interests."

The newly reappointed prime minister acknowledged that he might not last long in the post, given the country’s deep political divides.

Renamed by President Emmanuel Macron late Friday after a week of political chaos, Lecornu called for calm and for the support of political parties to produce a budget for the European Union’s No. 2 economy before looming deadlines.

The 39-year-old's appointment is seen as Macron’s last chance to reinvigorate his second term, which runs until 2027. His centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly, and he is facing increasing criticism even within its ranks.

Rivals slam Lecornu's reappointment

Meanwhile, rivals from far right to far left slammed Macron’s decision to rename Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year.

The leader of the far-right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, called Lecornu's reappointment a "bad joke" and declared that he would right away try to have the new cabinet removed.

While the Republicans decided on Saturday not to participate in Sébastien Lecornu's government, committing only to providing "text-by-text support" to the executive, during a political bureau meeting, a body that brings together the party's main figures.

"The political bureau affirms its support for the government, text by text," while emphasising that "at this stage, the confidence and conditions are not in place for Les Républicains to participate in the government," the party said in a statement.

For the parliament's swing party, the Socialists, there was "no deal" with Lecornu. The Socialists threatened to overthrow his government if he did not consent to halting a 2023 pension reform that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

France struggling with economic challenge

The political crisis comes as France struggles with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt, and the political crisis is aggravating its troubles and raising alarm across the European Union.

Lecornu, who resigned Monday after just a month on the job, said he agreed to come back because of the urgent need to find financial solutions for France. But he said he would only stay as long as conditions are met and seemed to acknowledge the risk that he could be brought down in a no-confidence vote by the fractured parliament.

"Either political forces help me and we accompany each other ... or they won’t," he said.

He wouldn’t say when he expects to form a new government or who could be in it but has said it wouldn’t include anyone angling for the 2027 presidential election.

He didn’t address opposition demands to scrap a contentious law raising the retirement age.

Macron's minority governments have fallen in quick succession over the past year, putting France in a state of political paralysis as it deals with a mounting poverty rate and a debt crisis that has alarmed markets and EU allies.