France was thrown into renewed political chaos on Monday after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu abruptly resigned, only hours after unveiling his cabinet. The 39-year-old became the shortest-serving prime minister in recent French history, lasting just 27 days in office.

The Elysée Palace confirmed the resignation following an hour-long meeting between Lecornu and President Emmanuel Macron. The move came less than a day after Lecornu presented his new government, which drew immediate backlash for closely mirroring that of his predecessor, François Bayrou. Opposition parties accused Macron of recycling faces from the previous administration rather than delivering the “reset” France’s fractured parliament had demanded.

The resignation marks Macron’s fifth — and seventh overall — change in the prime minister’s office since his first election in 2017, signaling deep instability at the top of French politics. Lecornu, one of Macron’s closest allies, had been appointed in early September in an attempt to calm tensions and push through a pared-down austerity budget aimed at reducing the deficit and restoring market confidence.

But the political reality proved intractable. With no party commanding a majority in the National Assembly, Lecornu faced near-impossible odds in securing support across the divided left, right, and far-right blocs. Within hours of his cabinet announcement, opposition leaders moved to capitalize on the turmoil.

Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right Rassemblement National, called for immediate snap elections, declaring that “there can be no return to stability without a return to the polls.” On the progressive left, La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon demanded a motion to remove Macron from office, while LFI lawmaker Mathilde Panot went further, posting on X that “the countdown has begun — Macron must go.”

Financial markets reacted sharply to the latest upheaval, with the CAC 40 index falling 2 percent on Monday morning. Analysts warn that the ongoing crisis risks damaging investor confidence at a time when France faces mounting fiscal pressures.