Far-right leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen both quickly took to X to excoriate the move, with the former reiterating his call for President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and send voters back to the ballot box. Le Pen is barred from running in any future contest until an appeals court rules on the five-year election ban she was handed as the result of an embezzlement conviction last year.  Lecornu and his government entered the new year with mostly risky options to finalize France’s fiscal plans after lawmakers in the country’s hung parliament failed to pass a proper budget before the end of 2025. Early in his tenure, Lecornu ruled out using Article 49.3 to pass a budget, betting the concession would help ensure the survival of his minority government and avoid the fate of his two immediate predecessors, both of whom were toppled over their deficit reduction efforts. But on Monday he acknowledged that despite personal “regret” and “bitterness,” he would need to go back on his word, saying that while the government wanted the parliamentary procedure to continue “until the end,” the …