France’s fiscal record: Can Lecornu defy gravity as he seeks compromise and coalition building?
Angela Diffley is accompanied by her journalist colleague Antonia Kerrigan and Damien Lecomte, political scientist and lecturer at the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne, to offer an in-depth analysis and perspective of the devastating act of the minority government of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Mr. Lecomte highlights an important change in strategy: unlike his predecessors, Lecornu broke with the rigidity of the Macron era by seeking the support of the Socialist Party through significant concessions on pension reform and wealth taxation. But this turn toward compromise comes at a price: He must still solicit the support of divided and embittered Republicans. Meanwhile, the National Rally is openly calling for Lecornu’s downfall, pledging to vote against the government at every opportunity. In this unstable landscape, says Mr. Lecomte, the next budget negotiations will be the real test. While Lecornu seeks to rely on the fragile dynamic of dialogue and compromise between parties, his failure risks pushing France even deeper into institutional and political crisis.
