France’s outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is hopeful that the country’s political crisis can be resolved without new elections.

Mr Lecornu said on Wednesday that he sees a common desire among the country’s parties to pass a budget by the end of the year.

“This desire naturally creates momentum and a rapprochement that makes the prospect of dissolving parliament seem very remote,” he said.

President Emmanuel Macron has tasked Mr Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, with conducting final talks with party representatives by Wednesday evening to find a way out of the crisis.

Mr Lecornu expressed confidence that he would succeed.

“It is obvious that this difficult time, this crisis, is also a time of responsibility, in which I hope to find a number of solutions that I can present to the head of state this evening,” Mr Lecornu said.

Mr Lecornu, who remains the caretaker prime minister, said he would meet the parties of the left, with the exception of the far-left France Unbowed party, to see what concessions they are demanding and where they are willing to make compromises.

He stressed that the parties of the left also want the budget to be passed before the end of the year.

Mr Lecornu, who took office just four weeks ago, resigned on Monday morning, plunging the country into a renewed political crisis amid rising concerns over debt levels.

The cabinet he had put forward the previous evening faced opposition from conservative politicians.

(dpa/NAN)