🔗 Share this article

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

Macron made the announcement late on Friday, following gathering leading factions collectively at the Élysée Palace, excluding the leaders of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return shocked many, as he declared on broadcast recently that he was not seeking the position 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 act quickly. He faces a cut-off on the start of the week to present the annual budget before lawmakers.

Leadership Hurdles and Fiscal Demands

The Élysée said the president had given him the duty of creating a administration, and Macron's entourage implied he had been given complete freedom to act.

Lecornu, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then published a long statement on social media in which he agreed to take on as an obligation the task entrusted to me by the president, to make every effort to secure a national budget by the December and address the common issues of our fellow citizens.

Political divisions over how to lower government borrowing and balance the books have led to the fall of several leaders in the recent period, so his mission is immense.

The nation's debt recently was close to 114% of gross domestic product – the third largest in the eurozone – and current shortfall is expected to reach 5.4% of the economy.

Lecornu said that everyone must contribute the necessity of restoring the nation's budget. Given the limited time before the conclusion of his term, he warned that prospective ministers would have to delay their aspirations for higher office.

Leading Without Support

What makes it even harder for the prime minister is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where Macron has lacks sufficient support to support him. His public standing hit a record low in the latest survey, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on 14 percent.

The far-right leader of the right-wing group, which was excluded of consultations with faction heads on Friday, commented that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president out of touch at the official residence, is a “bad joke”.

The National Rally would quickly propose a motion of censure against a struggling administration, whose main motivation was dreading polls, Bardella added.

Building Alliances

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls ahead as he tries to build a coalition, because he has already spent two days recently meeting with factions that might support him.

Alone, the centrist parties lack a majority, and there are splits within the right-leaning party who have supported the administration since he lost his majority in elections last year.

So he will seek socialist factions for possible backing.

As a gesture to progressives, Macron's team indicated the president was considering a delay to some aspects of his divisive retirement changes enacted last year which raised the retirement age from the early sixties.

It was insufficient of what left-wing leaders hoped for, as they were anticipating he would select a leader from their camp. 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 said after meeting the president that the progressive camp wanted substantive shifts, and a prime minister from the moderate faction would not be supported by the public.

Environmental party head Marine Tondelier expressed shock the president had provided few concessions to the progressives, adding that outcomes would be negative.