French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced his resignation on Monday, stepping down less than a month after being appointed.
Lecornu’s decision to quit was a complete shock. It came just a day after forming a new government, which included the controversial choice to appoint Bruno Le Maire to the country’s defense ministry, according to the Associated Press. Le Maire is France’s former finance minister.
The resignation was announced to the public on Monday morning after Lecornu met with French President Emmanuel Macron. He was Macron’s fifth prime minister of his second term, which began in 2022, and the fourth in the last year. Lecornu had the shortest tenure of a prime minister in the history of France’s Fifth Republic, according to reports. He was considered to be a staunch ally of Macron and was appointed to the position on Sept. 9.
No reason was given for Lecornu’s resignation as of Monday morning. However, it is widely speculated that it was motivated by dissatisfaction with the government named on Sunday. Macron’s political opponents threatened to topple his new government in retaliation for the political discontent.
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Macron’s main political rival, Marine Le Pen, his opponent in the French presidential elections in 2017 and 2022 and the former leader of the right-wing National Rally party, called on Macron to hold snap elections.
“I’m calling him to dissolve the National Assembly,” Le Pen told French TV. “We have reached the end of the road, there is no other solutions.”