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President Emmanuel Macron has requested Sébastien Lecornu to return as head of government a mere four days after he left the post, causing a period of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

The president declared towards the end of the week, hours after consulting with leading factions together at the Élysée Palace, excluding the representatives of the far right and far left.

The decision to reinstate him was unexpected, as he declared on national TV recently that he was not seeking the position and his role had concluded.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to hit the ground running. Lecornu faces a time limit on Monday to submit financial plans before the National Assembly.

Political Challenges and Budgetary Strains

The presidency announced the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and his advisors implied he had been given “carte blanche” to act.

The prime minister, who is one of a trusted associate, then published a detailed message on X in which he agreed to take on as an obligation the mission 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 reduce France's national debt and balance the books have led to the fall of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his task is immense.

France's public debt earlier this year was close to 114% of national income – the third largest in the eurozone – and current shortfall is estimated to reach 5.4 percent of GDP.

Lecornu stated that no one can avoid the need of restoring government accounts. In just a year and a half before the conclusion of his term, he cautioned that anyone joining his government would have to set aside their presidential ambitions.

Leading Without Support

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a parliament where the president has is short of votes to support him. Macron's approval reached its lowest point recently, according to a survey that put his public backing on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was not invited of the president's discussions with party leaders on the end of the week, commented that the prime minister's return, by a president out of touch at the official residence, is a “bad joke”.

They would quickly propose a challenge against a failing government, whose only reason for being was dreading polls, the leader stated.

Seeking Support

Lecornu at least understands the obstacles ahead as he tries to form a government, because he has already used time recently consulting political groups that might join his government.

Alone, the central groups are insufficient, and there are divisions within the conservative Republicans who have supported the ruling coalition since he lacked support in the previous vote.

So Lecornu will consider left-wing parties for possible backing.

In an attempt to court the left, Macron's team hinted the president was thinking of postponing to part of his divisive pension reforms implemented recently which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what left-wing leaders wanted, as they were expecting he would select a leader from their camp. Olivier Faure of the leftist party commented “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” for the premier.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the progressive camp wanted substantive shifts, and a leader from the moderate faction would not be supported by the public.

Greens leader the Green figure said she was “stunned” the president had offered the left almost nothing to the left, adding that outcomes would be negative.