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The French leader has requested Sébastien Lecornu to come back as head of government a mere four days after he stepped down, causing a period of intense uncertainty and crisis.

The president stated towards the end of the week, hours after gathering leading factions together at the Élysée Palace, excluding the figures of the far right and far left.

The decision to reinstate him came as a surprise, as he declared on broadcast just 48 hours prior that he was not seeking the position and his “mission is over”.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to act quickly. Lecornu faces a time limit on Monday to present the annual budget before the National Assembly.

Leadership Hurdles and Economic Pressures

The presidency confirmed the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and Macron's entourage suggested he had been given full authority to act.

Lecornu, who is one of the president's key supporters, then issued a detailed message on social media in which he agreed to take on as an obligation the task given to him by the president, to strive to finalize financial plans by the year's conclusion and address the daily concerns of our countrymen.

Partisan conflicts over how to bring down the country's public debt and balance the books have caused the ouster of two of the past three prime ministers in the recent period, so his challenge is enormous.

Government liabilities in the past months was close to 114% of economic output (GDP) – the third largest in the currency union – and current shortfall is expected to reach 5.4 percent of economic output.

Lecornu said that no one can avoid the imperative of repairing France's public finances. Given the limited time before the end of Macron's presidency, he cautioned that those in the cabinet would have to delay their presidential ambitions.

Governing Without a Majority

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a parliament where Macron has is short of votes to support him. His public standing plummeted in the latest survey, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on 14%.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was not invited of the president's discussions with party leaders on Friday, remarked that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the presidential palace, is a misstep.

They would immediately bring a motion of censure against a doomed coalition, whose sole purpose was avoiding a vote, he continued.

Forming Coalitions

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls he faces as he tries to form a government, because he has already spent two days this week consulting political groups that might join his government.

By themselves, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are splits within the traditionalists who have supported the administration since he failed to secure enough seats in the previous vote.

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

As a gesture to progressives, Macron's team indicated the president was thinking of postponing to some aspects of his divisive retirement changes implemented recently which extended working life from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what left-wing leaders wanted, as they were expecting he would appoint a leader from the left. Olivier Faure of the leftist party commented lacking commitments, they would withhold backing for the premier.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party said after meeting the president that the left wanted genuine reform, and a premier from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the public.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier 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”.