Emmanuel Macron has lost his third prime minister in the 16 months since he dissolved parliament and lost ensuing snap elections. Sébastien Lecornu has broken a Fifth Republic record by lasting just 27 days as head of government. 

We ask why Bruno Retailleau, the head of the Conservative Les Républicains party, first accepted to stay on as interior minister and then – faced with uproar in his own ranks – slammed the door 90 minutes later on Sunday night.

As for the president, he's got three choices: try again to find a PM who can work with an opposition-led parliament, call snap elections as demanded by far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, or, as the far left would have it, resign now.

Macron has made it crystal clear that he's not leaving before 2027. So what can he decide to federate alliances, reassure markets and salvage the legacy of a disrupter who eight years ago broke the mould of French politics but now has to contend with uncompromising, fragmented formations?

When Macron broke parties, did he also break the system?

Produced by Théophile Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.