Political Gridlock in France

0:00Today on State of the World, political gridlock in France.

0:09You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close, where they're happening. It's Monday, October 6th. I'm Greg Dixon. In France, the country's third prime minister in a year resigned today. His government lasted only 18 hours, brought down by a fractured legislature. The two premiers before him left office after no confidence votes. This prime minister didn't even get that far. France has plunged into an ever-deepening political crisis, and the uncertainty is having an effect on the European Union's second-largest economy. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris gives us the details.

0:52Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu named the ministers who would have formed his government only last night. The opposition on the right and left threatened to bring it down in a no-confidence vote. But Le Cornu resigned this morning before they even got the chance. He told the French it would have been impossible to govern and pass a budget. No one has a majority in Parliament, yet no one wants to see to think. We need less ego, more humility, and a spirit of compromise. You have to put the country before your party. France's fractured parliament is the result of snap legislative elections called a little over a year ago by President Emmanuel Macron in a risky move that saw him lose his center-right reformist majority.

1:42The National Assembly is now dominated by the far right and left, which both want a premier from their camp. There were two rounds of strikes and protests against Le Cornu since Macron chose him as prime minister 27 days ago. Protesting union member Youssef Hamad says Macron is ignoring the will of the people. They don't want his austerity budgets, he says.

2:12We've come out to remind the French government that the debt problem must not be resolved on the backs of the working class. Let's take the money where it is, from the rich and companies who benefit from tax cuts. Macron has asked Le Cornu to find some way out of the crisis by Wednesday night. But analysts say the president has three options now. He can pick another prime minister, dissolve parliament and call new legislative elections, or step down with a year and a half left in his term. Political scientist Corinne Mulul says Macron would never leave office, But picking another premier seems pointless, too.

2:48Attempting a fourth time to do exactly the same thing, to fix the same problem in the same way when it failed on three previous attempts. Is the definition of lunacy, she says. Some say Macron could name a premier from the center-left Socialist Party and try to build a coalition with the center-right. But Malul says that would mean sacrificing his free market pro-business agenda. The socialists would demand that the retirement reform be either totally scrapped or changed in a way that would completely erase the intention. And then the, you know, tax the rich thing. These are the two symbolic victories that the socialists would demand.

3:32And it would mean, I think for Macron, it would mean complete defeat. Milou says picking a prime minister from the far right is out of the question for Macron. The national rally seems to be licking its chops at Macron's latest misfortunes. Leader Marine Le Pen lost to Macron twice in presidential elections. But today, her party is the largest in Parliament and the most popular in France, with around 33 percent support.

4:01We're at the end of the road, she said. we have to stop the absurdity of naming prime minister after prime minister and go back to the ballot box and let the French people decide. The French stock market dropped on news of the prime minister's resignation, and French borrowing costs have risen to their highest level in over a decade. Meanwhile, the country waits to see what its unpopular and increasingly isolated president will do. Eleanor Beardsley, Empire News, Paris.

4:34That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.