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President Emmanuel Macron has requested Sébastien Lecornu to return as the nation's premier only four days after he stepped down, sparking a week of high drama and crisis.

Macron declared towards the end of the week, following consulting with leading factions in one place at the presidential palace, excluding the figures of the extremist parties.

His reappointment came as a surprise, as he declared on national TV recently that he was not interested in returning and his task was complete.

Doubts remain whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to start immediately. The new prime minister faces a cut-off on Monday to present the annual budget before the National Assembly.

Leadership Hurdles and Fiscal Demands

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

Lecornu, who is one of the president's key supporters, then published a detailed message on social media in which he accepted responsibly the assignment entrusted to me by the president, to do everything to finalize financial plans by the December and tackle the daily concerns of our fellow citizens.

Partisan conflicts over how to reduce the country's public debt and balance the books have resulted in the ouster of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his mission is enormous.

France's public debt earlier this year was nearly 114 percent of economic output (GDP) – the number three in the currency union – and this year's budget deficit is estimated to amount to 5.4% of the economy.

Lecornu emphasized that “no-one will be able to shirk” the need of fixing government accounts. Given the limited time before the end of Macron's presidency, he advised that prospective ministers would have to set aside their aspirations for higher office.

Leading Without Support

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a parliament where Macron has is short of votes to back him. Macron's approval reached its lowest point in the latest survey, according to an Elabe poll that put his support level on 14%.

The far-right leader of the far-right National Rally, which was not invited of the president's discussions with party leaders on the end of the week, remarked that the decision, by a president out of touch at the Élysée, is a “bad joke”.

They would promptly introduce a challenge against a doomed coalition, whose main motivation was fear of an election, he continued.

Seeking Support

The prime minister at least understands the obstacles in his path as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already devoted 48 hours recently consulting parties that might join his government.

Alone, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are splits within the right-leaning party who have helped prop up the ruling coalition since he failed to secure enough seats in the previous vote.

So Lecornu will consider socialist factions for possible backing.

To gain leftist support, officials suggested the president was thinking of postponing to some aspects of his divisive social security adjustments passed in 2023 which increased the pension age from 62 to 64.

That fell short of what socialist figures desired, as they were hoping he would appoint a premier from their side. Olivier Faure of the Socialists said “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists commented post-consultation that the left wanted real change, and a prime minister from the central bloc would not be accepted by the citizens.

Environmental party head Marine Tondelier remarked she was surprised Macron had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that outcomes would be negative.