Frances new PM faces bumpy ride with budget challenges and nationwide strikes ahead
PARIS -- A ballooning deficit.A fractious Parliament.
Unrest on the streets.The challenges facing Sébastien Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in a year, are daunting and defeated his immediate predecessors.So he’s trying a different tack.
To ease tensions, Lecornu has scrapped proposals to axe two public holidays and trimmed lifetime benefits for former government ministers.A loyal ally to unpopular centrist President Emmanuel Macron, he began meeting with opposition leaders and trade unions this week.But pitfalls lie ahead.
Opponents aim to turn up the heat yet further on Thursday with nationwide strikes and protests against budget cuts and other complaints targeting Lecornu’s fragile minority government.French politics have been in turmoil since Macron called early parliamentary elections in June last year which resulted in a deeply fragmented legislature.
One major challenge looms: addressing France’s budget crisis, a deeply divisive issue in Parliament.Lecornu’s first big move has been to dismiss the idea of cutting two public holidays, championed by his immediate predecessor, whose government fell earlier this month.François Bayrou had stirred public anger with his plan to scrap the Easter Monday and Victory Day (May 8) holidays, a move he said was needed to boost the economy.
Lecornu vowed to find “to find other sources of financing” instead.He also announced this week that lifetime benefits for former government members will be eliminated, starting from Jan.1st.For former prime ministers, the benefits include police protection, along with a car and driver paid for by the state.
Protection will be capped at three years and only extended for security reasons, while the car will be reduced to a period of 10 years.This is estimated to save about 4.4 million euros ($5.21 million) per year.Trade unions have called for nationwide strikes and protests on Thursday, scheduled before the change of prime minister, to push back on what they se...