France was plunged into a crisis on Monday when Lecornu resigned from his post as prime minister, just 14 hours after unveiling his new government. Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, agreed to stay on as PM to try to find a way out of the deadlock.
The next prime minister will be France’s third in less than a year and will face the arduous task of having to negotiate and pass a budget through a deeply fractured and hostile parliament. Speculation was rife on Friday that Macron would name either someone from his camp, possibly even Lecornu again, or pick a technocratic figure.
Lecornu has given no indication as to who the next prime minister could be despite leading talks with opposition parties all week. He has however said a draft budget could be ready in time to be presented to a new government on Monday.
Despite the crisis engulfing France, Macron has yet to address the public.
