French President Emmanuel Macron is facing mounting pressure to call early parliamentary elections or resign, as former allies join his opponents in urging him to act to end the country’s growing political crisis, reports The Guardian on Wednesday.
Macron’s first prime minister, Edouard Philippe, on Tuesday called for his resignation amid concerns that France is facing its most turbulent period of political chaos since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
Philippe, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2020 and now leads a party allied with Macron, said the president should announce early presidential elections as soon as next year’s budget is approved.
“We cannot prolong what we’ve experienced over the past six months. Another 18 months would be far too long and harmful to France. The political game we’re playing today is troubling,” Philippe declared.
Gabriel Attal – whose short tenure as France’s youngest-ever prime minister ended last year when Macron called snap elections – also expressed confusion over the president’s recent decisions.
Attal, who now heads the main pro-Macron party, told French media that after five prime ministers in less than two years, “it’s time to try something different,” criticizing what he described as Macron’s “determination to keep control.”
Calls for Macron to resign or call new elections intensified after the outgoing prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu – appointed only 28 days ago – resigned on Monday along with his 14-member cabinet. However, Macron asked him to hold final consultations with party leaders to secure parliamentary support.
France has been mired in political crisis for over a year, since the 2024 snap elections – called in response to far-right gains in the European Parliament vote – produced a deeply divided parliament split between three nearly equal blocs: the left, the far right, and Macron’s centrist alliance, leaving no clear majority.
Among the possible options, Macron could reappoint Lecornu, select a new prime minister – who would be the eighth under his presidency – or once again dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections.
