Déjà vu as French President Macron reappoints Lecornu as prime minister • FRANCE 24 English

Déjà vu as French President Macron reappoints Lecornu as prime minister • FRANCE 24 English

It’s time now for a week in France. [Music] And what a week it has been here in France for French politics. Sebastian L Cornu stepped down from his post as prime minister on Monday. On Friday, President Emanuel Macron reappointed him. In between, it’s been meetings with the various political parties. As the National Assembly remains in gridlock and the need to pass a budget growing ever more urgent, many are wondering what’s different this time. And will Li Cornu manage to avoid a confidence vote, a motion both the far-left and far right have vowed to bring into the National Assembly. Involved in politics since his youth, Sebastian Lucronu has been a member of all success of Macronese government since 2017. He suggested the idea of the great debate in 2019 for the government to bounce back after the yellow vests protest crisis. Luknu served as minister for local authorities until 2020. Then he became minister for overseas territories and finally minister for the armed forces from 2022 to 2025 before moving on to the prime minister’s office. He became France’s fifth prime minister in under two years taking over from Franceu on the 10th of September 2025. We will have to have a reset. The new prime minister conducted intense negotiations to form his government. The main challenges staying in power and building a budget for 2026 which caused the fall of his predecessors government. But Sebastian Nicornu who had promised a break with the past resigned just hours after naming his cabinet. The composition of the government within the parties of the coalition has not been smooth and has given rise to the reawakening of certain partisan tendencies. But we must always put country before party. We must listen to these activists. but always prioritize the French people. Thank you everyone. His government lasted only 14 hours. Another unprecedented development in French politics and the uncertainty continues as Sebastian Lornu was reappointed by France’s President Emanuel Macron just 4 days after he resigned. Despite the reappointment of Sebastian Lornu as prime minister, both businesses and the public remain concerned about everything from purchasing power to the unpopular pension reform. Luke Shrego explains. French politics is changing by the day and that’s nothing if not a problem for business like this contractor who often works in the public sector. We have quite a few local authorities as clients. So even though it works on hospitals and clinics, things are sure to be disrupted. What’s more, there will be municipal election next year. So that will cause even more disruption for our businesses. With no idea what the future looks like, there’s a freeze on new hires, and there’s uncertainty, too, around France’s unpopular pension reform. It’s meant to raise the retirement age to 64 by 2030. But a U-turn could cost at least€3 billion by 2027, and employers are firmly opposed. If the price of stability is a considerable burden of putting the country in debt and throwing its growth and purchasing power into doubt just for two or three months of stability, I say no. This reform should be left alone. Whichever way the reform’s fate goes, ordinary French only want clarity after months of political deadlock. It’s destabilizing. Who are we meant to be dealing with? Will they make decisions or not? What are we going to do tomorrow? What feels like a succession of prime ministers has been walking in and out of office and others have different priorities too. Frankly, retirement is just a huge question mark for me. It’s a bit of a blur. So, sure, 64 will go down to 63. It’ll calm things down a bit, but really, what’s the aim? What’s the point right now? We need something else. With turnover dropping as people spend less, she just wants people opening their wallets again. Jacel Pelico was back in court after one of the men convicted of raping her when she was drugged and unconscious appealed his case. The court instead increased his sentence to 10 years from nine. Pelico became a national hero after refusing to hold a closed hearing and let the world hear how her husband drugged her unconscious and let met men he met online rape her. Her courage inspired campaigners against sexual violence and spurred a national reckoning over rape culture in France. Lenar Montalos, a French German citizen, has returned to France after being released from an Iranian prison on Sunday. The 19-year-old was arrested by Iranian authorities during a bike trip across Iran in June and accused of espionage. Two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and Jack Perry, are still being held in Iran. Caroline Bomb has the details. After nearly four months in an Iranian prison, Lenard Montteru is finally free. In June, the 19-year-old was crossing Iran on a Europe to Asia bike trip. He documented his travels on social media. But when a short-lived war broke out between Israel and Iran, Montro was quickly arrested and accused of espionage. French authorities called the charges baseless. After months of negotiations, French foreign minister Jean Noel Baru announced the young cyclist return to France in a post on X. Leonard Montelo is free by bringing him back to France after his detention in Iran. The embassy and the foreign ministry have once again fulfilled their mission to protect French citizens wherever they may be. I have not forgotten Cecil Ka and Jacqu Perry whose immediate release we demand. In recent years, Iran has increasingly carried out what many deem to be politically motivated detentions, arresting European citizens in hopes of exchanging them for detained Iranians abroad. France especially has been targeted. In September 2023, a record number of seven French citizens were detained in Iran. French teachers Cecil Kur and Jac Pari have been held in Iranian prison for nearly three and a half years. They were arrested while visiting Iran for tourism. They face espionage charges and the death penalty. On Monday, the two countries indicated that negotiations for a prisoner swap that would free the couple were nearing final stages. French President Emanuel Macaron vowed has vowed to continue the fight against the death penalty worldwide. He made the statement during a speech in homage to former French justice minister Rober Badinter whose sen centav was inaugurated at the pantheon this Thursday. But in tear ended the death penalty in France in 1981. He entered the country’s mausoleum of France’s outstanding historical figures just hours after his grave was vandalized. Nick Rushworth has more. The coffin contains his lawyer’s robes, the text of a speech he made against capital punishment and three books. Former French justice minister Robert Badant has symbolically joined other national heroes in the Pantheon Moselum in Paris. He died last year age 95. He enters the Pantheon and we hear his voice pleading for his great essential and unfinished battles. the universal abolition of the death penalty, the fight against the poison of anti-semitism and its preachers of hate, the fight to defend the rule of law as France’s justice minister in 1981 ended the death penalty as a lawyer in the 1970s. He had campaigned for that after one of his clients was beheaded with a guillotine. His legacy also includes a 1982 law to decriminalize homosexuality. With Robert Badanteer, there was a lifelong dedication to serving the public interest and human dignity. And it is this dedication that in my view perfectly justifies his place in the pantheon. Adant remains are to stay in a cemetery outside Paris. His tombstone was defaced on Thursday morning before the ceremony at the Pantheon. President Mro in response said, “Shame on those who sought to tarnish his memory.” That was a week in France. Stay with us here. We’ll be back with more news after a quick break.

It’s been quite a week in French politics. Sébastien Lecornu stepped down as prime minister on Monday, only to be reappointed by President Emmanuel Macron on Friday. In between, there were meetings with various political parties, but the National Assembly remains in gridlock, and time to pass a budget before the end of the year is running out.
##SébastienLeCornu ##Politics ##Budget

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