Emmanuel Macron’s quick decision to name Lecornu comes ahead of a day of mass disruption planned Wednesday by a protest movement called ‘Block Everything” that prompted the government to deploy an exceptional 80,000 police to keep order.
French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu as France’s new Prime Minister, replacing Francois Bayrou. He tasked Lecornu with immediately trying to get the country’s fractious political parties to agree on a budget for one of the world’s biggest economies.
Bayrou was ousted after failing a confidence vote in parliament on Monday. He had been appointed less than a year ago, succeeding conservative leader and former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
Macron’s quick decision to name Lecornu comes ahead of a day of mass disruption planned Wednesday by a protest movement called ‘Block Everything” that prompted the government to deploy an exceptional 80,000 police to keep order.
Who is Sebastien Lecornu?
Lecornu, 39, was France’s youngest-ever defence minister and was the driving force behind a major military expansion plan through 2030, shaped largely by Russia’s war in Ukraine. A close ally of Macron, he now takes charge as France’s fourth prime minister in just a year.
Lecornu joined Macron’s centrist movement in 2017 and has since held various roles in local administrations, overseas territories, and during the “great debate” following the yellow vest protests, where he helped channel public anger through dialogue. In 2021, he also opened autonomy talks amid unrest in Guadeloupe.
His rise reflects Macron’s instinct to reward loyalty, but also the need for continuity as repeated budget showdowns have toppled his predecessors and left France in drift.
A minister of overseas territories from 2020 to 2022, Lecornu faced virus-related rioting and strikes in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, offering to discuss some autonomy for the territory affected by long-running frustrations over inequality with the French mainland.
The 413 billion euros (USD 435 billion) defense spending package Lecornu championed for 2024-2030 represents the most significant spending hike in France in half a century. The money aimed to modernize France’s nuclear arsenal, augment intelligence spending and develop more remote-controlled weapons.
(With AP inputs)
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