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The French leader has asked Sébastien Lecornu to resume duties as head of government only four days after he resigned, causing a week of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

The president stated on Friday evening, following gathering all the main parties together at the presidential palace, omitting the representatives of the extremist parties.

Lecornu's return came as a surprise, as he declared on television only two days ago that he was not seeking the position and his task was complete.

It is not even certain whether he will be able to form a government, but he will have to start immediately. He faces a time limit on Monday to present the annual budget before the National Assembly.

Political Challenges and Economic Pressures

Officials confirmed the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and Macron's entourage suggested he had been given full authority to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of a trusted associate, then issued a detailed message on an online platform in which he accepted responsibly the mission given to him by the president, to strive to provide France with a budget by the year's conclusion and respond to the daily concerns of our fellow citizens.

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

France's public debt recently was nearly 114 percent of national income – the third largest in the eurozone – and the annual fiscal gap is estimated to hit over five percent of GDP.

The premier said that no one can avoid the imperative of fixing the nation's budget. In just a year and a half before the conclusion of his term, he warned that those in the cabinet would have to delay their aspirations for higher office.

Ruling Amid Division

Adding to the difficulty for Lecornu is that he will face a show of support in a legislative body where Macron has no majority to support him. His public standing hit a record low this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on 14%.

The far-right leader of the right-wing group, which was not invited of the president's discussions with political chiefs on Friday, remarked that the decision, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the official residence, is a “bad joke”.

They would quickly propose a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose sole purpose was fear of an election, he continued.

Forming Coalitions

Lecornu at least is aware of the challenges he faces as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already devoted 48 hours lately meeting with factions that might participate in his administration.

Alone, the moderate factions are insufficient, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have assisted the administration since he lost his majority in elections last year.

So Lecornu will seek socialist factions for future alliances.

To gain leftist support, officials hinted the president was evaluating a pause to portions of his highly contentious social security adjustments implemented recently which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what left-wing leaders hoped for, as they were hoping he would appoint a leader from their camp. Olivier Faure of the Socialists commented lacking commitments, they would withhold backing in a vote of confidence.

The Communist figure from the Communists commented post-consultation that the left wanted real change, and a premier from the moderate faction would not be accepted by the public.

Greens leader the Green figure said she was “stunned” Macron had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.