French presidency unveils new Cabinet as budget pressure intensifies
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France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu (right) is under pressure to present a budget to meet constitutional deadlines.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS - The French presidency announced Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s new Cabinet line-up on Oct 12, with most top jobs remaining unchanged at a time when opponents are demanding a political shift to win their support for urgent budget talks.
Mr Lecornu, who was reappointed prime minister
It remains to be seen if Mr Lecornu’s new Cabinet will satisfy opponents. The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) has said it will file a motion of no confidence on Oct 13, as did the far-right National Rally, meaning the new government will face a nail-biting vote before the end of the week.
Meanwhile the Socialists - whose support the government would almost certainly need to survive such a vote - are keeping their options open.
“No comment,” Socialist party leader Olivier Faure wrote on X after the government’s announcement.
Mr Lecornu, whose last Cabinet lasted just 14 hours, reappointed Mr Roland Lescure, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as finance minister.
The government must formally present a budget in the coming days that faces a perilous path through a deeply divided Parliament, where many have now set their sights on the contest to succeed Mr Macron in 2027.
Mr Lecornu also kept Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin in their posts.
“A single imperative guides my decisions: to serve my country and the French people,” Mr Darmanin posted on X. “Without renouncing any of my convictions, I am therefore taking leave from all partisan activity.”
The most notable change to the ministerial picks was incoming Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, head of the Paris police, who replaces Mr Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative Republicans Party and who harbours his own presidential ambitions.
Mr Nunez is a graduate of the elite Ecole Nationale d’Administration, and has held key positions across the French security apparatus, including head of the domestic intelligence agency DGSI. In 2024, he kept Paris safe during the Olympics.
Former prime minister Elisabeth Borne lost her job as education minister, replaced by civil servant Edouard Geffray.
Ms Catherine Vautrin, a veteran of the centre-right, replaced Mr Lecornu as defence minister. She was previously labour minister in former prime minister Francois Bayrou’s government, and also served as a minister under former president Jacques Chirac.
Budget presentation looms
Mr Lecornu met with Mr Macron to hash out the list on Oct 12 evening, two days after his reappointment as prime minister and in the midst of France’s worst political crisis in decades.
BFM TV reported Mr Macron wanted a government named before he left for Egypt late on Oct 12 to attend a meeting to end the war in Gaza.
The president’s office says the budget proposal must be ready by Oct 15 to comply with constitutional deadlines. Having a Cabinet in place is a formal precondition for presenting a budget.
France has been mired in crisis as a series of minority governments struggle to pass deficit-reduction measures through a truculent Parliament, split between three ideological blocs.
In a sign of the volatility gripping French politics, Mr Lecornu said on Oct 12 he would not rule out resigning again.
“If the conditions were no longer met again, I’d leave,” he told La Tribune Dimanche. “I’m not going to just go along with whatever.”
Pensions and wealth tax remain key issues
The Socialists want Mr Lecornu to repeal Mr Macron’s pension reform and roll out a wealth tax, proposals the right refuses to countenance.
Mr Lecornu signalled potential flexibility on the pensions issue on Oct 11, saying “all debates are possible as long as they are realistic.”
If he fails to secure parliamentary support, France would need emergency stop-gap legislation to authorise spending from Jan 1 until a full budget is adopted. REUTERS
