Macron Renominates Lecornu as France's PM In the Wake of Days of Unrest

The French leader has requested his former prime minister to resume duties as the nation's premier just days after he stepped down, sparking a week of intense uncertainty and political turmoil.

The president made the announcement on Friday evening, following meeting leading factions together at the presidential palace, omitting the figures of the extremist parties.

The decision to reinstate him shocked many, as he said on national TV just 48 hours prior that he was not “chasing the job” 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 deadline on the start of the week to present the annual budget before lawmakers.

Leadership Hurdles and Budgetary Strains

Officials said the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government”, and his advisors implied he had been given full authority to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then issued a detailed message on social media in which he consented to “out of duty” the mission assigned by the president, to do everything to finalize financial plans by the December and respond to the everyday problems of our countrymen.

Ideological disagreements over how to lower the country's public debt and balance the books have led to the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the past twelve months, so his challenge is immense.

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

Lecornu stated that no one can avoid the imperative of repairing government accounts. In just a year and a half before the end of Macron's presidency, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to delay their presidential ambitions.

Governing Without a Majority

Adding to the difficulty for the prime minister is that he will face a parliamentary test in a parliament where Macron has is short of votes to back him. Macron's approval hit a record low recently, according to a survey that put his public backing on just 14%.

The far-right leader of the National Rally party, which was left out of consultations with political chiefs on Friday, said that the prime minister's return, by a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected” at the Élysée, is a “bad joke”.

His party would immediately bring a challenge against a struggling administration, whose main motivation was dreading polls, he continued.

Building Alliances

The prime minister at least is aware of the challenges in his path as he tries to form a government, because he has already spent two days lately talking to factions that might support him.

By themselves, the centrist parties are insufficient, and there are divisions within the traditionalists who have assisted the ruling coalition since he lacked support in elections last year.

So he will consider socialist factions for future alliances.

In an attempt to court the left, the president's advisors indicated the president was thinking of postponing to some aspects of his divisive social security adjustments enacted last year which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what socialist figures desired, as they were anticipating he would select a prime minister from their camp. The Socialist leader of the Socialists said lacking commitments, they would withhold backing for the premier.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the left wanted real change, and a leader from the moderate faction would not be endorsed by the public.

Environmental party head Marine Tondelier remarked she was surprised the president had provided few concessions to the left, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.