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The French leader has asked Sébastien Lecornu to come back as head of government a mere four days after he resigned, sparking a period of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

The president stated towards the end of the week, hours after gathering all the main parties collectively at the Élysée Palace, except for the leaders of the political extremes.

His reappointment came as a surprise, as he declared on broadcast recently that he was not interested in returning and his role had concluded.

Doubts remain whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to act quickly. He faces a time limit on Monday to present the annual budget before lawmakers.

Governing Obstacles and Budgetary Strains

The Élysée announced the president had assigned him to build a cabinet, and Macron's entourage suggested he had been given complete freedom to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of the president's key supporters, then issued a comprehensive announcement on social media in which he accepted responsibly the mission entrusted to me by the president, to do everything to finalize financial plans by the year's conclusion and respond to the common issues of our compatriots.

Ideological disagreements over how to bring down the country's public debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have resulted in the resignation of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his challenge is daunting.

France's public debt recently was almost 114% of gross domestic product – the third largest in the currency union – and current shortfall is projected to reach 5.4 percent of GDP.

Lecornu said that everyone must contribute the need of fixing the nation's budget. With only 18 months before the conclusion of his term, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to put on hold their presidential ambitions.

Governing Without a Majority

What makes it even harder for the prime minister is that he will face a show of support in a National Assembly where Macron has no majority to back him. His public standing plummeted this week, according to a survey that put his public backing on 14%.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was excluded of consultations with faction heads on the end of the week, said that the decision, by a president increasingly isolated at the Élysée, is a “bad joke”.

They would promptly introduce a vote of no confidence against a struggling administration, whose main motivation was avoiding a vote, the leader stated.

Forming Coalitions

The prime minister at least knows the pitfalls in his path as he tries to form a government, because he has already devoted 48 hours recently meeting with political groups that might participate in his administration.

On their own, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have supported Macron's governments since he lacked support in recent polls.

So Lecornu will look to socialist factions for possible backing.

As a gesture to progressives, officials indicated the president was considering a delay to part of his highly contentious social security adjustments enacted last year which increased the pension age from 62 up to 64.

The offer was inadequate of what socialist figures desired, as they were anticipating he would select a leader from their side. Olivier Faure of the leftist party stated “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

Fabien Roussel from the left-wing party commented post-consultation that the left wanted substantive shifts, and a premier from the moderate faction would not be supported by the public.

Environmental party head the Green figure said she was “stunned” the president had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that the situation would deteriorate.