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President Emmanuel Macron has called upon Sébastien Lecornu to come back as head of government just days after he resigned, causing a stretch of political upheaval and crisis.

Macron declared late on Friday, following consulting with all the main parties together at the presidential palace, excluding the representatives of the far right and far left.

Lecornu's return came as a surprise, as he declared on broadcast just 48 hours prior 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. He faces a deadline on the start of the week to present the annual budget before parliament.

Political Challenges and Economic Pressures

The Élysée announced the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and his advisors implied he had been given complete freedom to act.

Lecornu, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then issued a long statement on an online platform in which he agreed to take on responsibly the task given to him by the president, to strive to secure a national budget by the end of the year and address the common issues of our compatriots.

Political divisions over how to reduce France's national debt and cut the budget deficit have led to the ouster of several leaders in the recent period, so his mission is immense.

The nation's debt earlier this year was almost 114% of gross domestic product – the third largest in the currency union – and this year's budget deficit is projected to amount to 5.4% of economic output.

The premier emphasized that no one can avoid the need of fixing the nation's budget. With only 18 months before the end of Macron's presidency, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to set aside their political goals.

Ruling Amid Division

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a parliamentary test in a legislative body where the president has lacks sufficient support to back him. The president's popularity hit a record low recently, according to an Elabe poll that put his approval rating on 14 percent.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was not invited of Macron's talks with faction heads on the end of the week, said that the prime minister's return, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the official residence, is a poor decision.

The National Rally would immediately bring a challenge against a struggling administration, whose sole purpose was avoiding a vote, Bardella added.

Seeking Support

The prime minister at least knows the pitfalls in his path as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already spent two days recently consulting parties that might support him.

On their own, the centrist parties cannot form a government, and there are disagreements within the traditionalists who have assisted Macron's governments since he lacked support in the previous vote.

So he will seek left-wing parties for possible backing.

As a gesture to progressives, officials suggested the president was evaluating a pause to portions of his divisive pension reforms passed in 2023 which increased the pension age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what socialist figures hoped for, as they were expecting he would select a leader from the left. Olivier Faure of the Socialists commented lacking commitments, they would withhold backing for the premier.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists said after meeting the president that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a prime minister from the moderate faction would not be accepted by the French people.

Environmental party head the Green figure remarked she was surprised the president had provided few concessions to the left, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.