��������

PARIS: With his government hanging by a thread, France’s newly reappointed prime minister must make concessions to his political opponents to avoid a no-confidence vote later this week, as the country struggles to end a lingering political crisis.
Sebastien Lecornu, renamed by President Emmanuel Macron after a week of political turmoil, met with his Cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the draft 2026 budget that lawmakers will examine over the next 70 days. Lecornu is set to deliver a policy speech at the National Assembly later in the day outlining the new government’s priorities.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and the far-left France Unbowed wasted no time in submitting censure motions against Lecornu, which will be debated Thursday.
The opposite sides of the political spectrum have slammed Macron’s decision to reappoint Lecornu, France’s former defense minister and fourth prime minister in barely a year. With less than two years before the next presidential election, National Rally is urging Macron to call another early parliamentary vote while France Unbowed wants Macron to step down.
The two parties do not hold enough seats to topple Lecornu’s government on their own, but the prime minister could quickly be undone if the Socialist Party and Green lawmakers join forces with them.
To avoid censorship and deliver a budget for the European Union’s second-largest economy before looming deadlines, Lecornu may be forced to abandon an unpopular pension reform that was one of Macron’s signature policies in his second presidential term. Rammed through parliament without a vote in 2023 despite mass protests, the pension change gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. Opposition parties want it scrapped.
The Socialist Party has demanded the law be repealed and those calling for its suspension have gained a high-profile ally. Nobel Prize-winning economist Philippe Aghion told broadcaster France 2 that it should be suspended until the next presidential election to be held in 2027.
“I think we need to stop the clock now until the presidential election,” Aghion said, arguing that doing so would be “the way to calm things down” and “it doesn’t cost very much to pause it.”
Lecornu’s re-appointment is widely seen as Macron’s last chance to reinvigorate his second term. His centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly and he is facing increasing criticism even within its ranks.
Macron’s surprise decision last year to dissolve the National Assembly resulted in a hung parliament and political paralysis.
Over the past year, Macron’s successive minority governments have collapsed in quick succession, leaving France mired in deadlock while confronting a rising poverty rate and a mounting debt crisis that has alarmed markets and EU partners.

ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina on Tuesday dissolved the national assembly, pre-empting an opposition-led vote to force him out of office over the island nation’s spiraling political crisis.
Rajoelina has faced over two weeks of deadly street clashes, led largely by young demonstrators furious with the ruling elite, forcing the 51-year-old leader into hiding.
The decree to dissolve the assembly “shall enter into force immediately upon its publication by radio and/or television broadcast,” the presidency said in a statement published on Facebook.
Rajoelina, who has defied mounting calls to resign, defended the move in a separate social media post as necessary to “restore order within our nation and strengthen democracy.”
“The People must be heard again. Make way for the youth,” he said in a post on social media.
Opposition leader Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko said Monday they would vote to impeach Rajoelina for desertion of duty following reports he had fled the country.
Rajoelina, a former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, said late Monday he was sheltering in a “safe space” after attempts on his life, without revealing his location.
The protests began on September 25 and reached a pivotal point at the weekend when mutinous soldiers and security forces joined the demonstrators and called for the president and other government ministers to step down.
Among them were the elite CAPSAT unit, which played a major role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power.
To try to defuse the protests, the president last month sacked his entire government.
Radio France Internationale reported that Rajoelina departed Madagascar aboard a French military plane at the weekend but French officials have yet to respond to AFP’s request for confirmation.