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President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to return as French prime minister just days after he left the post, triggering a week of high drama and political turmoil.

Macron made the announcement late on Friday, hours after consulting with leading factions together at the Élysée Palace, omitting the leaders of the extremist parties.

Lecornu's return was unexpected, as he stated on broadcast recently that he was not “chasing the job” and his task was complete.

Doubts remain whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to hit the ground running. The new prime minister faces a time limit on the start of the week to present the annual budget before the National Assembly.

Leadership Hurdles and Economic Pressures

The Élysée announced the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and those close to the president suggested he had been given full authority to proceed.

The prime minister, who is one of a trusted associate, then published a long statement on social media in which he agreed to take on “out of duty” the mission given to him by the president, to strive to finalize financial plans by the end of the year and tackle the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to lower the country's public debt and cut the budget deficit have led to the ouster of two of the past three prime ministers in the recent period, so his challenge is immense.

Government liabilities earlier this year was close to 114% of national income – the third largest in the euro area – and this year's budget deficit is estimated to amount to over five percent of economic output.

Lecornu said that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of fixing the nation's budget. Given the limited time before the conclusion of his term, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to set aside their political goals.

Ruling Amid Division

Adding to the difficulty for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where the president has no majority to back him. Macron's approval reached its lowest point recently, according to research that put his support level on 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was not invited of Macron's talks with faction heads on Friday, commented that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president out of touch at the Élysée, is a misstep.

The National Rally would immediately bring a motion of censure against a doomed coalition, whose main motivation was avoiding a vote, the leader stated.

Forming Coalitions

Lecornu at least is aware of the challenges he faces as he tries to form a government, because he has already devoted 48 hours lately meeting with factions that might join his government.

By themselves, the central groups cannot form a government, and there are divisions within the conservative Republicans who have assisted the ruling coalition since he lacked support in elections last year.

So he will consider left-wing parties for future alliances.

As a gesture to progressives, Macron's team indicated the president was evaluating a pause to some aspects of his divisive pension reforms enacted last year which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The offer was inadequate of what progressive chiefs wanted, as they were expecting he would choose a prime minister from their camp. Olivier Faure of the leftist party stated “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” in a vote of confidence.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists commented post-consultation that the left wanted genuine reform, and a leader from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the public.

Greens leader the Green figure said she was “stunned” the president had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that outcomes would be negative.