After five days of uncertainty, the President of the Republic finally reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister on Friday, despite calls from most political forces to choose a non-Macronist head of government. Emmanuel Macron gave him "carte blanche." His mission is to pass a budget by reaching a non-censorship agreement with the Socialists.

In 2024, Michel Barnier established what he called the "common base" between the central bloc – the Renaissance , MoDem , Horizons parties – and Les Républicains (LR), a party that had officially been in opposition to Emmanuel Macron since 2017. A fragile alliance, but one that Emmanuel Macron had the advantage of constituting a relative majority of 211 deputies in the National Assembly, more than the 192 elected members of the New Popular Front (NFP) and the 141 deputies of the alliance between the National Rally (RN) and the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR).

In addition to the continuation of the head of state's economic policy, the "common base" was supposed to allow for "stability". But after the censure inflicted on Michel Barnier in December 2024 and the lack of confidence suffered by François Bayrou in September 2025, this "common base" imploded on Sunday, October 5, with the formation of the first government of Sébastien Lecornu, who preferred to resign the following day , judging that "the conditions were no longer met" to exercise his functions as Prime Minister.

Over the next four days, LR leader Bruno Retailleau affirmed that he would only participate in a "cohabitation government." Horizons party founder Édouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron's Prime Minister from 2017 to 2020, called on the President of the Republic to resign . Élisabeth Borne , also Emmanuel Macron's Prime Minister from 2022 to 2024, proposed suspending pension reform. And Renaissance party leader Gabriel Attal , also Emmanuel Macron's Prime Minister for eight months in 2024, asked the Head of State, like several other Macronists such as Agnès Pannier-Runacher, not to appoint a Prime Minister "identified as very close to the President of the Republic," the latter, according to him, should "share power and not give the impression of trying to keep control of everything."

"The common core is dead," long live the "stability platform"

But during the meeting he organized Friday afternoon at the Élysée Palace with all the political forces, with the exception of the National Rally and La France Insoumise, Emmanuel Macron did not wish to follow up on these calls. And while only Gabriel Attal and Marc Fesneau, the president of the MoDem group in the National Assembly, raised their hands when he asked who was still part of the majority, according to Marine Tondelier 's account, and Bruno Retailleau declared "the common base is dead" , the head of state considered that there still existed a "stability platform" of 210 deputies. It was therefore legitimate, according to him, to reappoint Sébastien Lecornu , who described himself Wednesday evening on the 8 p.m. news on France 2 as a "soldier monk" of the president .

It is now up to the latter to avoid the censure already promised him by the National Rally, La France Insoumise , the Ecologists and the Communist Party, a total of 264 votes out of the 289 needed. To do this, he will have to convince the Socialist Party (PS) not to align with the rest of the left, while avoiding alienating the center and the right. With this in mind, Emmanuel Macron "gives him carte blanche" for "negotiations," said a close friend of the head of state.

The issues of pension reform, taxation of the ultra-rich, and the purchasing power of the French are presented by the Socialists as the key topics of the upcoming discussions. "All the issues discussed" during the final negotiations held on Tuesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 8, "will be open to parliamentary debate: MPs and senators will be able to assume their responsibilities, and the debates must go all the way," wrote Sébastien Lecornu on X, seeming to confirm that he maintained his renunciation of Article 49.3.

The decisive issue of pensions

A source close to the discussions claimed that Emmanuel Macron had spoken by telephone with Olivier Faure before Sébastien Lecornu's reappointment and that the Socialist Party would not censure a priori before the general policy statement. Information about a non-censorship agreement was even relayed Friday evening, before a categorical denial from the Socialist Party, claiming to have "no assurances or guarantees" regarding its demands.

However, the subject of pensions was indeed raised by Emmanuel Macron on Friday during his 2.5-hour meeting with political forces at the Élysée Palace. The president preferred to talk about a postponement of the "legal retirement age from January ^1, 2027 to January ^1, 2028," a possibility he "did not endorse" but cited "as an example in the debate," his entourage reported. This was insufficient for the Socialist Party, which finally announced overnight Friday to Saturday that it would censure the Lecornu II government in the absence of an "immediate and complete suspension" of the pension reform.

This complicates the Prime Minister's task, given that the Republicans and Horizons parties are fiercely opposed to such a suspension, as are a number of Renaissance elected officials. However, it would only take half of the LR deputies joining the censure promised by the opposition to bring down Sébastien Lecornu. So, it's quite a balancing act that awaits the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen will be able to enjoy the spectacle. When the political forces were received by Emmanuel Macron on Friday afternoon, she enjoyed a walkabout and took selfies with the French at the national firefighters' congress held in Le Mans. "We have a meeting with the French," she declared, already seeming to be campaigning far from the "meeting of carpet merchants" organized at the Élysée Palace, as she put it.