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The French leader has called upon Sébastien Lecornu to resume duties as head of government only four days after he resigned, causing a period of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

The president made the announcement late on Friday, hours after gathering key political groups collectively at the Élysée Palace, except for the figures of the political extremes.

The decision to reinstate him came as a surprise, as he declared on television recently that he was not interested in returning and his “mission is over”.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to hit the ground running. He faces a cut-off on the start of the week to present the annual budget before parliament.

Governing Obstacles and Budgetary Strains

The Élysée announced the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and his advisors indicated he had been given “carte blanche” to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of a trusted associate, then issued a comprehensive announcement on an online platform in which he agreed to take on “out of duty” the mission given to him by the president, to do everything to finalize financial plans by the year's conclusion and tackle the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Partisan conflicts over how to bring down France's national debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have led to the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his mission is enormous.

Government liabilities in the past months was almost 114% of national income – the third highest in the currency union – and this year's budget deficit is expected to hit 5.4 percent of economic output.

Lecornu emphasized that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of restoring the nation's budget. With only 18 months before the end of Macron's presidency, he cautioned that those in the cabinet would have to put on hold their presidential ambitions.

Leading Without Support

Adding to the difficulty for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a parliament where the president has no majority to back him. The president's popularity hit a record low this week, according to a survey that put his approval rating on just 14%.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was not invited of Macron's talks with party leaders on the end of the week, commented that the prime minister's return, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the presidential palace, is a poor decision.

They would immediately bring a motion of censure against a struggling administration, whose sole purpose was fear of an election, he continued.

Seeking Support

The prime minister at least is aware of the challenges in his path as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already spent two days lately consulting political groups that might support him.

On their own, the central groups cannot form a government, and there are splits within the right-leaning party who have assisted Macron's governments since he lacked support in elections last year.

So Lecornu will consider progressive groups for possible backing.

To gain leftist support, officials suggested the president was considering a delay to some aspects of his divisive retirement changes passed in 2023 which raised the retirement age from the early sixties.

The offer was inadequate of what left-wing leaders desired, as they were hoping he would choose a premier from the left. The Socialist leader of the leftist party commented “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists said after meeting the president that the left wanted genuine reform, and a premier from the central bloc would not be accepted by the public.

Greens leader the Green figure remarked she was surprised the president had offered the left almost nothing to the left, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.