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France expected to unveil new government

AFP October 03, 2025 Less than a minute read

Protesters holding flags walk past a burning garbage bin during a demonstration in Paris as part of a day of nationwide strikes and protests against the government and possible austerity cuts in France, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS

PARIS:

Tens of thousands of people protested in France Thursday against public spending cuts, as President Emmanuel Macron was expected to name a new government this weekend, sources said.

Macron, who has just 18 months left in power and is enduring his worst-ever popularity levels, has struggled to pull France out of a worsening political and economic crisis.

The president is set to put together a leaner team under Sebastien Lecornu, his seventh prime minister, sources told AFP.

Heeding a call from trade unions, some 600,000 protesters staged a new day of demonstrations across the country, the leftist CGT union said. The interior ministry put the turnout at 195,000 people.

By comparison, trade unions said more than a million people took to the streets two weeks ago, when many schools were closed and public transport stalled.

"You can feel that the country is changing," hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon said at a rally in Paris.