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President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to come back as head of government a mere four days after he resigned, causing a period of high drama and instability.

The president stated towards the end of the week, following meeting all the main parties in one place at the Élysée Palace, excluding the leaders of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return came as a surprise, as he stated on national TV just 48 hours prior that he was not seeking the position and his task was complete.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to hit the ground running. He faces a time limit on Monday to present the annual budget before parliament.

Governing Obstacles and Economic Pressures

The presidency said the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and his advisors indicated he had been given full authority to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of the president's key supporters, then released a long statement on social media in which he consented to “out of duty” the assignment entrusted to me by the president, to strive to provide France with a budget by the December and respond to the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Political divisions over how to bring down government borrowing and cut the budget deficit have resulted in the ouster of multiple premiers in the recent period, so his challenge is enormous.

The nation's debt in the past months was close to 114% of economic output (GDP) – the third highest in the eurozone – and this year's budget deficit is projected to hit 5.4 percent of the economy.

The premier said that “no-one will be able to shirk” the imperative of repairing government accounts. With only 18 months before the conclusion of his term, he advised that those in the cabinet would have to delay their aspirations for higher office.

Governing Without a Majority

What makes it even harder for the prime minister is that he will face a vote of confidence in a legislative body where the president has lacks sufficient support to endorse his government. The president's popularity reached its lowest point this week, according to research that put his public backing on 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was left out of consultations with political chiefs on the end of the week, commented that the decision, by a president out of touch at the Élysée, is a poor decision.

They would promptly introduce a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose main motivation was dreading polls, he continued.

Building Alliances

Lecornu at least understands the obstacles ahead as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already spent two days recently talking to factions that might participate in his administration.

On their own, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are disagreements within the traditionalists who have assisted Macron's governments since he lacked support in recent polls.

So Lecornu will look to socialist factions for potential support.

As a gesture to progressives, the president's advisors suggested the president was considering a delay to part of his divisive retirement changes passed in 2023 which extended working life from the early sixties.

That fell short of what progressive chiefs wanted, as they were expecting he would appoint a premier from the left. The Socialist leader of the Socialists stated “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party commented post-consultation that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a leader from the central bloc would not be supported by the citizens.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier expressed shock Macron had provided few concessions to the left, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.