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The French leader has called upon Sébastien Lecornu to return as head of government a mere four days after he stepped down, sparking a week of intense uncertainty and instability.

The president declared late on Friday, hours after gathering all the main parties collectively at the Élysée Palace, excluding the figures of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return shocked many, as he said on national TV just 48 hours prior 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 parliament.

Leadership Hurdles and Economic Pressures

The Élysée confirmed the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and Macron's entourage indicated he had been given “carte blanche” to proceed.

The prime minister, who is one of a trusted associate, then published a detailed message 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 address the daily concerns of our compatriots.

Ideological disagreements over how to reduce the country's public debt and balance the books have resulted in the ouster of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his task is enormous.

The nation's debt earlier this year was nearly 114 percent of economic output (GDP) – the number three in the currency union – and this year's budget deficit is projected to hit over five percent of GDP.

Lecornu stated that “no-one will be able to shirk” the imperative of fixing government accounts. With only 18 months before the conclusion of his term, he warned that those in the cabinet would have to delay their presidential ambitions.

Ruling Amid Division

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a National Assembly where the president has is short of votes to support him. Macron's approval hit a record low recently, 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 consultations with political chiefs on the end of the week, remarked that the decision, by a president out of touch at the official residence, is a “bad joke”.

His party would promptly introduce a motion of censure against a struggling administration, whose sole purpose was fear of an election, Bardella added.

Building Alliances

The prime minister at least knows the pitfalls he faces as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already spent two days recently talking to factions that might support him.

By themselves, the moderate factions lack a majority, and there are divisions within the conservative Republicans who have assisted the ruling coalition since he failed to secure enough seats in the previous vote.

So Lecornu will look to left-wing parties for future alliances.

As a gesture to progressives, the president's advisors hinted the president was considering a delay to some aspects of his controversial retirement changes enacted last year which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

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

The Communist figure from the Communists commented post-consultation that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a leader from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the public.

Environmental party head the Green figure expressed shock the president had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that outcomes would be negative.