France’s political turmoil shows no sign of easing as newly reappointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu scrambles to secure enough parliamentary backing to survive a no-confidence vote later this week, his first major test since returning to office.

Lecornu, reinstated by President Emmanuel Macron after a week of intense political wrangling, convened his Cabinet on Tuesday to review the draft 2026 budget, which lawmakers will debate over the next 70 days. He is expected to outline the government’s priorities in a policy address to the National Assembly later in the day.

Almost immediately, the far-right National Rally (RN) and the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) filed separate censure motions that will be debated on Thursday, uniting opposite ends of the political spectrum against Macron’s embattled administration.

Pension reform on the line

Both parties denounced the president’s decision to reappoint Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in less than a year and a former defense minister, as a sign of exhaustion within Macron’s centrist camp. With less than two years before the next presidential race, RN leader Marine Le Pen is pressing Macron to call a snap parliamentary election, while LFI has demanded that he resign outright.

Although neither bloc alone commands enough votes to bring down the government, Lecornu’s position could quickly unravel if the Socialist Party and Green deputies decide to join the motion.

To avert a collapse and deliver a functioning budget for the European Union’s second-largest economy, Lecornu may be forced to abandon Macron’s controversial pension reform, a measure that has haunted the government since 2023, when it was pushed through parliament without a vote despite months of mass protests. The reform, one of Macron’s flagship policies, gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, a move opposition parties insist must be reversed.

'We need to stop the clock now'

The Socialist Party has demanded that the law be repealed, and calls for its suspension have gained support from Nobel Prize-winning economist Philippe Aghion, who told broadcaster France 2 that the reform should be frozen until after the 2027 presidential election.

“We need to stop the clock now,” he said, arguing that pausing the measure would “help calm things down” and “cost very little.”

Lecornu’s reappointment is widely viewed as Macron’s last opportunity to rescue his second term, which has been weakened by a fractured legislature and mounting dissent within his own centrist alliance.

Macron’s surprise decision last year to dissolve the National Assembly produced a hung parliament, deepening France’s political paralysis. Since then, successive minority governments have fallen in rapid succession, leaving the country stuck in a stalemate while struggling with rising poverty, mounting debt, and concerns from EU partners and financial markets over its fiscal stability.

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