French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday tasked his outgoing prime minister, who had resigned earlier in the day, to hold last-ditch talks with other political parties to try and chart a path out of the crisis.
Sebastien Lecornu had tendered his government's resignation only hours after announcing his cabinet line-up, making it the shortest-lived administration in modern French history and deepening the country's political crisis.
It was not immediately clear what Lecornu's task would entail. France's constitution allows Macron to reappoint Lecornu as prime minister, should he wish.
Macron gave Lecornu 48 hours.
"The president has entrusted Mr. Sebastien Lecornu, the outgoing Prime Minister in charge of day-to-day affairs, with the responsibility of conducting final negotiations by Wednesday evening to define a platform for action and stability for the country," the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Lecornu’s swift resignation was unexpected and unprecedented and marked another major deepening of France's political crisis.
The far-right National Rally immediately urged Macron to call a snap parliamentary election.
After weeks of consultations with political parties across the board, Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, had appointed his ministers on Sunday and they had been set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon.
But the new cabinet line-up had angered opponents and allies alike, who either found it too right-wing or not sufficiently so, raising questions on how long it could last, at a time when France is already mired deep in political crisis, with no group holding a majority in a fragmented parliament.
French politics has become increasingly unstable since Macron's re-election in 2022 for want of any party or grouping holding a parliamentary majority.
Macron's decision to call a snap parliamentary election last year deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament. Lecornu, who was only appointed last month, was Macron's fifth prime minister in two years.
"There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly," National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said after Lecornu resigned.
Paris' CAC 40 dropped 1.5% as Lecornu resigned, making it the worst-performing index in Europe, as banking shares came under heavy fire, leaving BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole down 4% to 5%.
The euro slid 0.7% on the day to $1.1665.
