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President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to come back as head of government just days after he stepped down, causing a period of high drama and crisis.

Macron stated on Friday evening, shortly after consulting with all the main parties together at the presidential palace, except for the figures of the far right and far left.

The decision to reinstate him came as a surprise, as he said on national TV only two days ago that he was not interested in returning and his role had concluded.

It is not even certain whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to hit the ground running. He faces a cut-off on the start of the week to submit financial plans before parliament.

Leadership Hurdles and Economic Pressures

The Élysée announced the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and his advisors suggested he had been given full authority to make decisions.

Lecornu, who is one of a trusted associate, then issued a comprehensive announcement on an online platform in which he agreed to take on as an obligation the mission assigned by the president, to make every effort to finalize financial plans by the December and respond to the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Partisan conflicts over how to lower the country's public debt and cut the budget deficit have caused the resignation of two of the past three prime ministers in the recent period, so his mission is daunting.

Government liabilities earlier this year was close to 114% of gross domestic product – the third highest in the currency union – and the annual fiscal gap is projected to amount to 5.4 percent of GDP.

The premier stated that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of restoring government accounts. Given the limited time before the conclusion of his term, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to delay their political goals.

Leading Without Support

Compounding the challenge for the prime minister is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where Macron has no majority to back him. Macron's approval reached its lowest point this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on 14%.

The far-right leader of the right-wing group, which was excluded of Macron's talks with faction heads on Friday, remarked that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the presidential palace, is a “bad joke”.

They would quickly propose a motion of censure against a doomed coalition, whose main motivation was avoiding a vote, Bardella added.

Forming Coalitions

Lecornu at least is aware of the challenges he faces as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already devoted 48 hours recently consulting factions that might participate in his administration.

Alone, the centrist parties lack a majority, and there are splits within the right-leaning party who have helped prop up the ruling coalition since he lost his majority in recent polls.

So he will look to socialist factions for future alliances.

As a gesture to progressives, the president's advisors indicated the president was thinking of postponing to portions of his highly contentious retirement changes enacted last year which increased the pension age from the early sixties.

It was insufficient of what left-wing leaders hoped for, as they were hoping he would select a prime minister from their side. The Socialist leader of the Socialists commented lacking commitments, they would withhold backing in a vote of confidence.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the left wanted substantive shifts, and a leader from the central bloc would not be endorsed by the French people.

Environmental party head the Green figure expressed shock the president had provided few concessions to the left, adding that outcomes would be negative.