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President Emmanuel Macron has requested Sébastien Lecornu to come back as head of government just days after he resigned, sparking a week of high drama and instability.

The president made the announcement on Friday evening, hours after meeting leading factions together at the Élysée Palace, 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 seeking the position and his “mission is over”.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to establish a ruling coalition, but he will have to start immediately. The new prime minister faces a time limit on Monday to present the annual budget before lawmakers.

Leadership Hurdles and Economic Pressures

The Élysée said the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and his advisors indicated he had been given full authority to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then released a long statement on social media in which he accepted “out of duty” the mission entrusted to me by the president, to make every effort to finalize financial plans by the December and respond to the everyday problems of our countrymen.

Partisan conflicts over how to lower the country's public debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have caused the ouster of two of the past three prime ministers in the past twelve months, so his challenge is enormous.

The nation's debt recently was almost 114% of gross domestic product – the third highest in the eurozone – and current shortfall is estimated to hit 5.4 percent of GDP.

Lecornu said that no one can avoid the imperative of repairing France's public finances. Given the limited time before the conclusion of his term, he advised that prospective ministers would have to set aside their political goals.

Ruling Amid Division

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a parliamentary test in a National Assembly where Macron has no majority to back him. Macron's approval hit a record low this week, according to a survey that put his support level on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was left out of consultations with political chiefs on Friday, commented that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the Élysée, is a misstep.

They would immediately bring a motion of censure against a struggling administration, whose sole purpose was avoiding a vote, the leader stated.

Seeking Support

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls he faces as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already devoted 48 hours recently talking to political groups that might support him.

Alone, the central groups cannot form a government, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have supported the administration since he lacked support in the previous vote.

So he will consider left-wing parties for future alliances.

In an attempt to court the left, the president's advisors suggested the president was evaluating a pause to some aspects of his highly contentious retirement changes implemented recently which raised the retirement age from the early sixties.

That fell short of what socialist figures hoped for, as they were anticipating he would choose a premier from the left. The Socialist leader of the Socialists stated “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” to back the prime minister.

Fabien Roussel from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the left wanted real change, and a premier from the central bloc would not be endorsed by the French people.

Environmental party head the Green figure expressed shock Macron had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.