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President Emmanuel Macron has asked Sébastien Lecornu to come back as French prime minister only four days after he resigned, causing a stretch of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

Macron stated late on Friday, shortly after gathering key political groups collectively at the official residence, omitting the representatives of the far right and far left.

His reappointment was unexpected, as he said on national TV recently that he was not interested in returning and his “mission is over”.

It is not even certain whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to hit the ground running. He faces a cut-off on the start of the week to put next year's budget before the National Assembly.

Governing Obstacles and Budgetary Strains

The presidency 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.

Lecornu, who is one of the president's key supporters, then released a long statement on social media in which he agreed to take on responsibly the task entrusted to me by the president, to strive to provide France with a budget by the year's conclusion and address the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to bring down France's national debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have caused the resignation of multiple premiers in the past twelve months, so his challenge is immense.

The nation's debt recently was nearly 114 percent of national income – the number three in the euro area – and the annual fiscal gap is expected to reach 5.4 percent of the economy.

The premier said that everyone must contribute the necessity of repairing the nation's budget. Given the limited time before the completion of his mandate, he advised that prospective ministers would have to set aside their presidential ambitions.

Governing Without a Majority

Compounding the challenge for the prime minister is that he will face a show of support in a parliament where the president has is short of votes to support him. Macron's approval reached its lowest point this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his approval rating on 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was left out of the president's discussions with political chiefs on Friday, remarked that the prime minister's return, by a president out of touch at the official residence, is a “bad joke”.

They would quickly propose a challenge against a struggling administration, whose main motivation was avoiding a vote, Bardella added.

Building Alliances

The prime minister at least understands the obstacles in his path as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already spent two days recently meeting with parties that might participate in his administration.

On their own, the central groups are insufficient, and there are disagreements within the right-leaning party who have supported Macron's governments since he lost his majority in the previous vote.

So Lecornu will look to left-wing parties for possible backing.

As a gesture to progressives, Macron's team indicated the president was evaluating a pause to some aspects of his highly contentious social security adjustments enacted last year which increased the pension age from 62 up to 64.

The offer was inadequate of what left-wing leaders desired, as they were expecting he would choose a prime minister from their camp. The Socialist leader of the leftist party said “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” for the premier.

Fabien Roussel from the left-wing party said after meeting the president that the progressive camp wanted substantive shifts, and a prime minister from the central bloc would not be endorsed by the public.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier remarked she was surprised the president had offered the left almost nothing to the left, adding that the situation would deteriorate.