Description: Members of France’s trade unions, CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labor) and CGT (General Confederation of Labor) have amassed on the streets of several cities across the country, protesting the budget cuts and the lack of the government’s resolve to shelve budget solutions. President Macron earlier last month appointed the fifth Prime Minister in the past two years, Sebastien Lecornu, who is yet to form a cabinet and deliver the proposed 2026 budget for the country while facing large deficits and spiraling debt surpassing the European Union’s threshold of 3%. The protests were smaller in numbers from last month’s nationwide mobilization, however, the civil unrest and disapproval of Lecornu’s appointment and failure to form a cabinet was equivalent to last month’s unrest. Lecornu is struggling to deliver a proposal different from the previous shelved by ousted Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and is facing a fragmented political opposition which is unified in protest against any proposed budget cuts.
Impact: France’s ongoing political crisis threatens further destabilization and economic uncertainty as President Macron and Prime Minister Lecornu struggle to muster support for outlining the country’s budget. Macron has recycled measures to resolve the crisis by constantly appointing prime ministers from his own political camp which has further solidified pressure from the opposition and consolidated anti – government movements primarily from the country’s trade unions. Lecornu hasn’t managed to garner support in forming the new cabinet or proposing a budget alternative which indicates that pressure from the opposition coupled with the civil unrest would only increase and intensify in the upcoming period.