Lecornu promised to do things differently as prime minister / © AFP
France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised a "profound break" with the past on Wednesday as he faced the thorny task of trying to build a government with enough parliamentary support to avoid an early demise.
Lecornu's first day on the job coincided with street protests across France in a show of grassroots opposition to President Emmanuel Macron, which resulted in clashes with police and dozens of arrests, as well as some disruption to transport, schools and other services.
But the protests, called by a collective without a clear leader, had an uneven impact across the country.
The president appointed Lecornu -- a close Macron ally and defence minister for the past three years -- late on Tuesday, only 24 hours after his predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament over his attempt to implement austerity measures to reduce France's debt.
Anti-riot police faced protesters at entry points into Paris / © AFP
Taking over from 74-year-old Bayrou, Lecornu, who is 39, promised to find "more creative" ways than before to work with opposition parties as he tries to build a stable government.
"We will get there," he said during a handover ceremony.
Lecornu is the seventh prime minister since Macron took office in 2017 -- and the third within the space of the year.
An urgent policy challenge will be to give France a budget for 2026 without suffering the same fate as Bayrou, who lasted just nine months and fell when opposition parties joined forces to push him out.
- No-confidence motion -
Lecornu said he would address the nation "in the coming days" to explain his approach, which would be different from the past, and "not just in method".
Since Macron dissolved parliament last year, successive governments have lacked a majority in the National Assembly, putting them in constant danger of being voted out.
The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party has already announced a no-confidence motion against Lecornu in parliament, for now with no backing from other parties.
Hundreds protested in Marseille against the president and the government / © AFP
Earlier Wednesday, France deployed some 80,000 police nationwide to face demonstrators.
Protesters in and around Paris built barricades from rubbish bins, blocked schools and roads and pelted police with garbage early in the day.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned demonstrators that there would be "zero tolerance" for violence.
Despite a call by a loose left-wing coalition of organisers to "block everything", that target was only partly achieved.
Most high-speed trains ran on schedule, and disruption to the Paris metro was minimal, operators reported.
But many schools were blocked, and protesters occupied roads and railway stations across the country.
France under Macron / © AFP
In the southeastern city of Lyon, protesters blocked a road running through the city and set bins on fire, while in the western city of Nantes police used tear gas to disperse protesters.
By mid-morning, close to 200 arrests had been made, Retailleau told reporters, most of them in and around Paris.
In the southern port city of Marseille, police stopped some 200 demonstrators from blockading a main road.
Macron's decision to name a close ally as prime minister was a "slap in the face", said Florent, a protester in Lyon who gave only his first name. "We need change," he said.
- Debt-cutting drive -
The decentralised nature of the protests was reminiscent of a previous anti-government movement -- the Yellow Vests, which emerged in 2018 without clear leadership and became a major test for Macron during his first term.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said he suspected the "radical left" was running the protests, lacking support from "civil society".
Bayrou had insisted 44 billion euros ($52 billion) of spending cuts were needed to tackle France's debt and stabilise the public finances.
Opponents accused him of trying to achieve this at the expense of wage earners and pensioners while sparing the wealthy.
Wednesday's protests had an uneven impact across the country / © AFP
"None of this is OK," said Chloe, a 25-year-old student demonstrating in the southern city of Toulouse. "The working class suffers the most. There could be a better way."
Cedric Brun, a 46-year-old auto worker and local union boss in the northern city of Valenciennes, said he was disappointed to see protesters easily kept at bay by police.
"I thought there'd be more of us," he said. "It's unfortunate that there are more revolutionaries on Facebook than in real life."
