France’s political crisis deepened this week as former prime minister Édouard Philippe urged President Emmanuel Macron to prepare an “orderly and dignified” exit from office by calling early presidential elections.
Philippe, who served as Macron’s first prime minister from 2017 to 2020 and now leads the centrist Horizons party, stopped short of demanding his immediate resignation. But in remarks to RTL radio Tuesday, he said the president must confront the reality of his collapsing authority.
“It’s clear we’re in the middle of a political crisis that dismays and worries our fellow citizens,” Philippe said. “When you’re head of state, you don’t use the institutions, you serve them.”
The call came just hours after Sébastien Lecornu, Macron’s third prime minister in a year — resigned following a failed attempt to form a government. Lecornu, who lasted only 26 days in office, blamed “partisan appetites” among coalition parties for his downfall.
Macron has asked him to make a last-ditch stability plan by Wednesday, but signs of eroding support are multiplying. Gabriel Attal, the president’s former protégé and prime minister for six months in 2024, told French television he no longer understood “the decisions made by the president of the republic,” urging Macron to share power with rival parties.
The disarray stems from last year’s snap parliamentary election, called after Macron’s centrist bloc was humbled in the European Parliament vote. He lost his majority, leaving him unable to push through a budget or address France’s swelling debt, projected at 5.4% of GDP this year.
Two prime ministers have since fallen trying to impose austerity. François Bayrou resigned after losing a confidence vote on deep cuts; Lecornu followed him into political ruin after less than a month.
Public patience is wearing thin. A poll for Le Figaro found 53% of French respondents believe Macron should step down. On Monday night, the president was filmed walking silently along the Seine, trailed by bodyguards, a solitary figure as the crisis closed in.
Philippe cautioned against a sudden abdication but urged Macron to appoint a caretaker premier to pass a budget before bowing out. “He should serve the institutions by finding a solution,” Philippe said.
