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The French leader has called upon his former prime minister to come back as the nation's premier just days after he stepped down, triggering a stretch of high drama and political turmoil.

Macron stated towards the end of the week, shortly after consulting with key political groups in one place at the presidential palace, excluding the representatives of the political extremes.

The decision to reinstate him came as a surprise, as he stated on national TV recently that he was not “chasing the job” 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 Monday to present the annual budget 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 indicated he had been given “carte blanche” to make decisions.

The prime minister, who is one of a trusted associate, then released a long statement on an online platform in which he agreed to take on “out of duty” the assignment entrusted to me by the president, to do everything to provide France with a budget by the end of the year and respond to the daily concerns of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to lower the country's public debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have resulted in the ouster of several leaders in the last year, so his challenge is enormous.

France's public debt in the past months was almost 114% of national income – the third largest in the euro area – and current shortfall is projected to amount to over five percent of GDP.

The premier said that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of repairing government accounts. 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 political goals.

Leading Without Support

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a legislative body where the president has is short of votes to endorse his government. Macron's approval hit a record low this week, according to research that put his support level on 14 percent.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was left out of Macron's talks with political chiefs on the end of the week, said that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president increasingly isolated at the official residence, is a poor decision.

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

Forming Coalitions

The prime minister at least knows the pitfalls he faces as he tries to form a government, because he has already used time recently consulting parties that might join his government.

On their own, the central groups cannot form a government, and there are divisions within the right-leaning party who have supported Macron's governments since he failed to secure enough seats in elections last year.

So Lecornu will consider progressive groups for potential support.

To gain leftist support, the president's advisors indicated the president was considering a delay to part of his highly contentious retirement changes passed in 2023 which increased the pension age from 62 to 64.

That fell short of what left-wing leaders hoped for, as they were anticipating he would select a leader from the left. Olivier Faure of the Socialists stated “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” for the premier.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists stated following discussions that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a premier from the central bloc would not be supported by the citizens.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said she was “stunned” Macron had provided few concessions to the progressives, adding that the situation would deteriorate.