Macron reappoints Lecornu as prime minister – four days after he quit

French President Emmanuel Macron has re-appointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister.

Mr Lecornu resigned from the post four days ago just hours after he appointed a cabinet – and after political rivals threatened to topple his government.

Macron’s office said in a statement on Friday that he has now been tasked with forming a new cabinet.

After the announcement on Friday evening, Mr Lecornu said no one would be able to “avoid the necessity of restoring France’s public finances”.

He added: “It is my duty to accept the mission entrusted to me by the president to do everything in my power to give France a budget for the end of the year and to respond to the everyday problems of our compatriots.

“We need to put an end to this political crisis, which is exasperating the French people, and to this instability, which is bad for France’s image and its interests.”

Jordan Bardella, president of France’s far-right National Front party, said he would vote down the new government.

He said: “The Lecornu II government, appointed by Emmanuel Macron who is more isolated and out of touch than ever at the Elysee Palace, is a bad joke, a democratic disgrace and a humiliation for the French people.”

Mathilde Panot, of the hard-left France Unbowed party, also said that “never before has a President wanted so much to govern by disgust and anger”.

“Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, was reappointed by Macron on Friday,” she added. “Macron miserably postpones the inevitable: his departure.”

Earlier on Friday, Mr Macron convened a meeting of mainstream party leaders to gather support around his reappointment of Mr Lecornu.

His return to the role marks the eighth prime minister of Mr Macron’s tenure as president, and the fifth appointment in barely a year.

His predecessor Francois Bayrou was appointed in December last year and was ousted after losing a confidence vote by an overwhelming 364-194 in September.

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