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The French leader has asked Sébastien Lecornu to return as the nation's premier a mere four days after he resigned, sparking a period of intense uncertainty and instability.

The president stated towards the end of the week, following meeting key political groups collectively at the Élysée Palace, excluding the figures of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return shocked many, as he stated on national TV only two days ago that he was not seeking the position and his role had concluded.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to hit the ground running. He faces a cut-off on Monday to submit financial plans before parliament.

Leadership Hurdles and Budgetary Strains

The presidency confirmed the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and those close to the president indicated he had been given full authority to make decisions.

The prime minister, who is one of a trusted associate, then issued a comprehensive announcement on social media in which he consented to responsibly the task assigned by the president, to do everything to secure a national budget by the end of the year and tackle the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to lower government borrowing and cut the budget deficit have led to the fall of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his task is immense.

Government liabilities recently was close to 114% of gross domestic product – the third largest in the eurozone – and this year's budget deficit is estimated to reach over five percent of the economy.

The premier said that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of fixing government accounts. Given the limited time before the completion of his mandate, he cautioned that anyone joining his government would have to delay their presidential ambitions.

Leading Without Support

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a parliamentary test in a parliament where Macron has no majority to back him. His public standing hit a record low this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his support level on 14%.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was left out of the president's discussions with faction heads on Friday, said that the prime minister's return, by a president increasingly isolated at the presidential palace, is a “bad joke”.

His party would promptly introduce a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose sole purpose was avoiding a vote, he continued.

Building Alliances

The prime minister at least understands the obstacles in his path as he tries to form a government, because he has already spent two days recently consulting factions that might join his government.

Alone, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are divisions within the right-leaning party who have assisted the administration since he lost his majority in elections last year.

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

In an attempt to court the left, officials hinted the president was evaluating a pause to portions of his divisive social security adjustments implemented recently which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what progressive chiefs wanted, as they were expecting he would choose a leader from their camp. Olivier Faure of the leftist party commented without assurances, they would offer no support in a vote of confidence.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party commented post-consultation that the progressive camp wanted genuine reform, and a leader from the central bloc would not be supported by the public.

Greens leader the Green figure said she was “stunned” the president had provided few concessions to the left, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.