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President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to return as head of government only four days after he stepped down, triggering a week of intense uncertainty and crisis.

The president stated towards the end of the week, following consulting with all the main parties collectively at the Élysée Palace, excluding the leaders of the far right and far left.

The decision to reinstate him came as a surprise, as he stated on television only two days ago that he was not seeking the position and his “mission is over”.

Doubts remain whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to start immediately. Lecornu faces a deadline on Monday to put next year's budget before lawmakers.

Governing Obstacles and Fiscal Demands

The Élysée announced the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and those close to the president indicated he had been given complete freedom to proceed.

The prime minister, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then published a long statement on social media in which he agreed to take on “out of duty” the task entrusted to me by the president, to strive to secure a national budget by the December and tackle the common issues of our fellow citizens.

Political divisions over how to bring down the country's public debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have resulted in the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the past twelve months, so his task is enormous.

France's public debt in the past months was almost 114% of economic output (GDP) – the number three in the euro area – and the annual fiscal gap is projected to hit 5.4 percent of the economy.

The premier emphasized that everyone must contribute the necessity of repairing France's public finances. In just a year and a half before the completion of his mandate, he advised that anyone joining his government would have to put on hold their aspirations for higher office.

Leading Without Support

Adding to the difficulty for the prime minister is that he will face a vote of confidence in a legislative body where Macron has is short of votes to endorse his government. Macron's approval hit a record low this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his support level on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally, which was left out of consultations with faction heads on Friday, remarked that the decision, by a president increasingly isolated at the official residence, is a poor decision.

His party would immediately bring a motion of censure against a struggling administration, whose only reason for being was dreading polls, Bardella added.

Seeking Support

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls in his path as he tries to form a government, because he has already devoted 48 hours recently talking to parties that might join his government.

On their own, the central groups are insufficient, and there are disagreements within the traditionalists who have supported the ruling coalition since he lost his majority in recent polls.

So he will consider progressive groups for potential support.

To gain leftist support, Macron's team indicated the president was evaluating a pause to portions of his controversial social security adjustments enacted last year which increased the pension age from the early sixties.

The offer was inadequate of what socialist figures wanted, as they were expecting he would appoint a leader from the left. The Socialist leader of the leftist party commented “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party said after meeting the president that the left wanted substantive shifts, and a leader from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the French people.

Environmental party head Marine Tondelier expressed shock Macron had given minimal offers to the left, adding that outcomes would be negative.