President Emmanuel Macron Brings Back Lecornu as French PM In the Wake of Days of Political Turmoil

President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to resume duties as French prime minister only four days after he left the post, sparking a week of political upheaval and crisis.

The president made the announcement late on Friday, shortly after gathering all the main parties together at the official residence, except for the figures of the extremist parties.

The decision to reinstate him shocked many, as he declared on broadcast recently that he was not “chasing the job” and his role had concluded.

Doubts remain whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, but he will have to start immediately. Lecornu faces a time limit on Monday to put next year's budget before lawmakers.

Leadership Hurdles and Budgetary Strains

Officials confirmed the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and those close to the president implied he had been given complete freedom to proceed.

The prime minister, who is one of the president's key supporters, then issued a long statement on an online platform in which he accepted responsibly the task assigned by the president, to make every effort to secure a national budget by the end of the year and tackle the common issues of our countrymen.

Partisan conflicts over how to bring down France's national debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have resulted in the resignation of two of the past three prime ministers in the past twelve months, so his mission is immense.

Government liabilities in the past months was almost 114% of national income – the number three in the currency union – and this year's budget deficit is estimated to hit over five percent of the economy.

Lecornu stated that “no-one will be able to shirk” the need of repairing government accounts. Given the limited time before the completion of his mandate, he warned that those in the cabinet would have to put on hold 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 National Assembly where Macron has no majority to endorse his government. Macron's approval hit a record low in the latest survey, according to research that put his support level on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the right-wing group, which was left out of consultations with party leaders on Friday, said that the decision, by a president increasingly isolated at the official residence, is a poor decision.

The National Rally would promptly introduce a challenge against a failing government, whose sole purpose was fear of an election, Bardella added.

Building Alliances

Lecornu at least is aware of the challenges he faces as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already devoted 48 hours this week talking to parties that might support him.

On their own, the centrist parties cannot form a government, and there are disagreements within the right-leaning party who have assisted the ruling coalition since he lacked support in recent polls.

So Lecornu will consider progressive groups for potential support.

To gain leftist support, the president's advisors indicated the president was thinking of postponing to some aspects of his controversial pension reforms enacted last year which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

It was insufficient of what socialist figures desired, as they were expecting he would appoint a prime minister from their side. The Socialist leader of the leftist party stated lacking commitments, they would withhold backing to back the prime minister.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists said after meeting the president that the progressive camp wanted real change, and a prime minister from the moderate faction would not be accepted by the citizens.

Environmental party head Marine Tondelier expressed shock Macron had offered the left almost nothing to the left, adding that outcomes would be negative.