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The French leader has asked Sébastien Lecornu to return as French prime minister a mere four days after he stepped down, sparking a week of intense uncertainty and instability.

The president made the announcement towards the end of the week, shortly after gathering leading factions collectively at the Élysée Palace, except for the representatives of the extremist parties.

His reappointment came as a surprise, as he declared on national TV just 48 hours prior that he was not seeking the position and his “mission is over”.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to form a government, but he will have to act quickly. The new prime minister faces a deadline on the start of the week to present the annual budget before parliament.

Political Challenges and Economic Pressures

The Élysée said the president had assigned him to build a cabinet, and his advisors suggested he had been given complete freedom to make decisions.

The prime minister, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then released a detailed message on an online platform in which he consented to “out of duty” the assignment given to him by the president, to do everything to provide France with a budget by the December and respond to the common issues of our fellow citizens.

Partisan conflicts over how to bring down the country's public debt and cut the budget deficit have caused the ouster of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his mission is immense.

France's public debt in the past months was nearly 114 percent of economic output (GDP) – the third largest in the eurozone – and current shortfall is projected to hit 5.4 percent of GDP.

Lecornu said that no one can avoid the imperative of restoring the nation's budget. Given the limited time before the completion of his mandate, he warned that prospective ministers would have to put on hold their aspirations for higher office.

Ruling Amid Division

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a legislative body where Macron has no majority to back him. Macron's approval hit a record low recently, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on just 14%.

The far-right leader of the far-right National Rally, which was left out of consultations with party leaders on the end of the week, said that the prime minister's return, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the Élysée, is a poor decision.

They would immediately bring a vote of no confidence against a struggling administration, whose main motivation was fear of an election, Bardella added.

Building Alliances

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls he faces as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already spent two days recently meeting with parties that might join his government.

On their own, the central groups lack a majority, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have helped prop up the administration since he lacked support in recent polls.

So he will look to left-wing parties for possible backing.

As a gesture to progressives, Macron's team hinted the president was thinking of postponing to part of his divisive retirement changes passed in 2023 which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

That fell short of what progressive chiefs hoped for, as they were hoping he would select a leader from their camp. The Socialist leader of the Socialists said “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 stated following discussions that the progressive camp wanted genuine reform, and a leader from the moderate faction would not be accepted by the public.

Environmental party head the Green figure said she was “stunned” Macron had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that outcomes would be negative.