Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called for an early presidential election on Tuesday, citing the country’s deepening political crisis.
Philippe, a former ally of President Emmanuel Macron and contender for the 2027 race, spoke to RTL radio, warning of a potential “collapse of the state.”
The crisis is exacerbated by France’s record public debt, €3.4 trillion ($4 trillion), now the European Union’s third-highest after Greece and Italy, putting pressure on the government to pass urgent economic measures.
Philippe, who was in charge as PM between 2017 and 2020, urged Macron to appoint a new prime minister, pass the budget and then call an early presidential election.
Philippe’s comments came a day after outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, following the rejection of his newly announced cabinet.
Lecornu had released the names of his cabinet on Sunday evening, which drew immediate criticism for including many of the same faces from the previous administration, prompting his resignation the following morning.
Lecornu’s government was the shortest-lived administration in modern French history.
Despite stepping down, Lecornu accepted Macron’s request to hold two days of cross-party talks, with a Wednesday evening deadline, in a last-ditch effort to stabilise the government.
On Tuesday, Lecornou was scheduled to meet with leaders of the conservative Les Republicains and the centre-right Renaissance party, including Senate leader Gerard Larcher and National Assembly head Yael Braun-Pivet.
The meeting aims to define a “platform of action and stability,” though the scope of Lecornu’s authority during negotiations remains unclear.
Political confusion grew, with centrist lawmaker Gabriel Attal, former prime minister under Macron, saying he no longer understood the president’s decisions and calling for a new approach.
"Like many French people, I do not understand the president's decisions anymore," said Gabriel Attal, a centrist lawmaker and former prime minister under Macron.
Macron resists resignation amid divided parliament
France's current political crisis, its deepest since the creation in 1958 of the Fifth Republic, its modern system of government, dates to June of last year.
After the far-right surged in European Parliament elections, Macron announced snap elections for the lower parliamentary house.
The result was a fractured parliament with no clear majority — in a country with a government designed to have a powerful president with a strong parliamentary majority and little history of building coalitions and consensus.
Lecornu was Macron's third prime minister since those elections were called, and Macron's options are now limited.
The president could name a new prime minister. The Socialists have urged Macron to name a prime minister from the left, which he has resisted because a leftist prime minister would likely seek to roll back his pension overhaul and tax changes.
The political deadlock dates back to snap parliamentary elections in mid-2024, which left Macron’s allies in a minority and created a fractured legislature incapable of passing key legislation.
Lecornu’s two immediate predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were also ousted over disputes regarding an austerity budget, leaving any new prime minister facing similar obstacles.
Macron has resisted calls to resign or call new legislative elections, though opposition parties continue to demand either fresh parliamentary polls or an early presidential vote.
Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella echoed Philippe’s call, advocating first for the dissolution of parliament, followed by either legislative or early presidential elections.
Any next premier will still face the challenge of finding enough support for the spending bill in the legislative chamber, where the Macron-friendly bloc is in a minority.
