As part of his visit to New Caledonia for the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting, French Minister of Defence at the time, Sebastien Lecornu, performs the customary greeting at the customary senate of New Caledonia. 3 December 2023 Photo: AFP / Delphine Mayeur / Hans Lucas
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu tendered his resignation on Monday, only hours after the announcement of a new government, casting more uncertainty in New Caledonia on its possible immediate and middle-term impacts.
Lecornu announced a new government on Sunday, just before 8 pm (Paris time).
The new cabinet included a re-appointed Manuel Valls as Minister for Overseas.
But on Monday, following heavy criticism from a wide spectrum of political parties (including right-wing Les Républicains-LR-), he tendered his resignation to French President Macron.
LR's anger, voiced by its President and Minister for Home Affairs Bruno Retailleau, crystallised around the appointment of Bruno Le Maire (a former finance minister close to President Macron) to the portfolio of Defence and Armies Minister.
Macron's office said in a brief statement he had accepted Lecornu's resignation.
Lecornu was appointed prime minister on 9 September, just hours after the vote of a motion of defiance against his predecessor, François Bayrou, the previous day.
Bayrou had been in office for the nine previous months. Bayrou's predecessor, Michel Barnier, had only lasted three months at the post. Barnier also fell to a no confidence vote in Parliament.
New Caledonia once again in limbo
This new episode of instability in French politics also plunges New Caledonia into more uncertainty, particularly regarding the already difficult implementation of the Bougival agreement and more immediately a text that was supposed to postpone the dates for provincial elections to mid-2026.
The 2026 budget also contains crucial financial assistance to New Caledonia, as part of the reconstruction associated with the heavy financial damage caused by the May 2024 riots that caused 14 deaths and material damage to the tune of over €2 billion and a drop of 13.5 percent in the French Pacific territory's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past 12 months.
In the current circumstances, faced with the likelihood that necessary texts will not be tabled in Parliament before the necessary deadlines, another crucial political sequence for New Caledonia, the provincial elections, will probably not be postponed to mid-2026, but will have to be held not later than November 2025.
In his brief address on Monday morning, Lecornu also cited New Caledonia's situation, among others, such as the vote of a 2026 budget and issues of social security, security, purchasing power, in the matters of "important urgency".
These, Lecornu said, were matters that "cannot wait 2027" (the scheduled date for Presidential elections).
"Sometimes it's better to prefer one's country to one's party", he said, lashing out at "partisan appetites" the emerged during his negotiation talks attempting to form a cabinet over the past four weeks.
Complications on the French national level are also likely to further impact the situation in New Caledonia.
This also concerns possible scenarios in the immediate future, such as another dissolution of the French National Assembly (which already took place in June-July 2024, resulting in a largely fragmented Lower House and the absence of a clear majority).
Since Lecornu's resignation announcement, several parties across the political spectrum have reacted.
Several of those are now calling for Macron's resignation or at least for him to dissolve parliament once again and call for fresh snap elections.
