France's embattled president, Emmanuel Macron, appeared increasingly isolated Tuesday after even his allies joined in a growing chorus of criticism of his leadership of the republic amid calls for early parliamentary and presidential elections. File Photo via G7/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday called on President Emmanuel Macron to fix the country's political crisis by appointing a new prime minister to get a budget passed for the coming year and bring forward the presidential election from 2027.
The intervention from Philippe, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2020 in Macron's first term, came a day after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu became the latest casualty in a revolving door of heads of France's legislative branch that has seen five come and go in under two years.
Lecornu has, at Macron's request, agreed to remain in post for 48 hours to "conduct final negotiations to define a platform for action and stability," saying he would notify Macron if his efforts had been successful by the end of Wednesday.
Otherwise, Macron would "assume his responsibilities," government sources told French media.
