New French PM vows 'profound break' with past

PARIS

France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised a "profound break" with the past on Sept. 10 as he faced trying to build a government with enough parliamentary support to pull the country out of a political crisis.

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, with one protester hospitalized after being tear-gassed.

But the protests, which gathered steam on social media under the "block everything" slogan, had an uneven impact across the country, despite turnout surpassing that of the traditional Labour Day rallies on May 1.

Altogether some 197,000 demonstrators took to the streets, while some 80,000 officers sent to control them made around 540 arrests with 415 people taken into police custody, according to interior ministry figures,

The president appointed Lecornu, a close Macron ally and defence minister for the past three years, late on Sept. 9, only 24 hours after his predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament over an attempt to implement austerity measures to reduce France's debt.

Taking over from 74-year-old Bayrou, Lecornu, 39, promised to find "more creative" ways to work with opposition parties.

"We will get there," he said during a handover ceremony.

Lecornu said he would address the nation "in the coming days", insisting his approach would be different from the past.