Last week, Sébastien Lecornu went down in the history books as France’s shortest-lived prime minister. On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron named his replacement: Sébastien Lecornu.

It seems an appropriate choice for the country that gave the world surrealism.

Lecornu has until the end of today to set a budget for next year before Parliament.

Four parties have promised to censure the new government, but they are still 25 votes short of a majority. But they might find supporters among the many within other parties who are also unhappy with the stunt.

• “France has now moved beyond a political crisis. I think it’s a regime crisis,” veteran commentator Alain Duhamel said. “France is trapped between two systems,” he explained. “We have a president who behaves like a monarch but depends on a parliament he does not control. The two halves of the machine are pulling in opposite directions.”
• “The French are always dissatisfied,” Duhamel continued. “And now they are more than dissatisfied. They are furious.”

Once again, the end of the Fifth Republic is being discussed. These are uncharted and fast-changing times for French politics. Watch for them to end with a strong leader from Germany dominating Europe.