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The French leader has asked Sébastien Lecornu to come back as French prime minister just days after he left the post, triggering a stretch of high drama and instability.

Macron declared towards the end of the week, following gathering key political groups in one place at the Élysée Palace, omitting the leaders of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return was unexpected, as he said on television recently that he was not seeking the position and his “mission is over”.

It is not even certain whether he will be able to form a government, but he will have to hit the ground running. Lecornu faces a cut-off on Monday to present the annual budget before lawmakers.

Governing Obstacles and Economic Pressures

The Élysée announced the president had assigned him to build a cabinet, and his advisors implied he had been given full authority to act.

The prime minister, who is one of the president's key supporters, then issued a detailed message on an online platform in which he accepted responsibly the task given to him by the president, to make every effort to secure a national budget by the December and respond to the everyday problems of our countrymen.

Political divisions over how to lower government borrowing and cut the budget deficit have resulted in the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his challenge is immense.

Government liabilities recently was nearly 114 percent of gross domestic product – the number three in the currency union – and current shortfall is expected to amount to over five percent of the economy.

The premier emphasized that no one can avoid the need of repairing France's public finances. In just a year and a half before the end of Macron's presidency, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to delay their political goals.

Leading Without Support

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a legislative body where Macron has is short of votes to support him. His public standing plummeted recently, according to research that put his public backing on just 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was not invited of Macron's talks with faction heads on the end of the week, commented that the prime minister's return, by a president out of touch at the Élysée, is a “bad joke”.

They would immediately bring a vote of no confidence against a struggling administration, whose sole purpose was dreading polls, Bardella added.

Forming Coalitions

The prime minister at least is aware of the challenges in his path as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already used time recently meeting with factions that might participate in his administration.

On their own, the moderate factions cannot form a government, and there are divisions within the traditionalists who have supported the administration since he lacked support in elections last year.

So Lecornu will consider left-wing parties for potential support.

To gain leftist support, the president's advisors indicated the president was considering a delay to portions of his highly contentious social security adjustments passed in 2023 which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The offer was inadequate of what socialist figures desired, as they were anticipating he would select a leader from their camp. The Socialist leader of the leftist party stated lacking commitments, they would withhold backing in a vote of confidence.

Fabien Roussel from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a prime minister from the moderate faction would not be endorsed by the French people.

Environmental party head the Green figure remarked she was surprised Macron had provided few concessions to the left, adding that the situation would deteriorate.