French Prime Minister Resigns After a Month; Macron on the Hot Seat

Oct. 7—Sebastien Lecornu resigned yesterday, a few hours after he presented his minority cabinet, whose members drew criticism and rejections from the opposition, which holds the majority in the national parliament. Many of today’s announced cabinet members had served previously in ministries and been opposed. “Lecornu-the-Cornichon (pickle)” is the now ex-PM's nickname.

The leader of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN), Bardella, immediately called for new elections following Lecornu’s resignation. Macron had previously rejected this but is expected to change his mind now.

France has been in a domestic political crisis for months. The main reason for this is the dispute over next year’s budget. Another reason for the conservative RN to oppose the Lecornu cabinet, is that he made Bruno Le Maire Defense Minister, who belongs to the Macron party, and served formerly as Economics and Finance Minister.

Financial traders used the opportunity to make a killing, with a run on French bonds, which this morning fell below the typically troubled Italian bonds. Yields on 10-year French bonds went up to 3.5790, whereas Italian yields were at 3.5730