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The French leader has called upon his former prime minister to return as the nation's premier a mere four days after he left the post, causing a week of high drama and political turmoil.

The president stated on Friday evening, following meeting key political groups collectively at the official residence, except for the figures of the extremist parties.

Lecornu's return came as a surprise, as he declared on broadcast just 48 hours prior that he was not seeking the position and his role had concluded.

It is not even certain whether he will be able to form a government, but he will have to act quickly. Lecornu faces a time limit on the start of the week 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 his advisors indicated he had been given complete freedom to act.

Lecornu, who is one of Macron's closest allies, then issued a detailed message on social media in which he accepted as an obligation the assignment assigned by the president, to strive to secure a national budget by the year's conclusion and tackle the daily concerns of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to bring down government borrowing and cut the budget deficit have caused the resignation of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his task is enormous.

Government liabilities in the past months was nearly 114 percent of national income – the third largest in the eurozone – and the annual fiscal gap is expected to hit over five percent of the economy.

Lecornu said that everyone must contribute the imperative of restoring government accounts. Given the limited time before the conclusion of his term, he warned that those in the cabinet would have to delay their presidential ambitions.

Leading Without Support

What makes it even harder for the prime minister is that he will face a vote of confidence in a parliament where Macron has no majority to back him. The president's popularity plummeted this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his public backing on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the right-wing group, which was not invited of the president's discussions with party leaders on Friday, commented that the decision, by a president increasingly isolated at the official residence, is a poor decision.

They would quickly propose a motion of censure against a failing government, whose sole purpose was fear of an election, he continued.

Seeking Support

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls in his path as he tries to form a government, because he has already used time recently consulting parties that might participate in his administration.

By themselves, the central groups are insufficient, and there are divisions within the right-leaning party who have supported Macron's governments since he lacked support in elections last year.

So Lecornu will look to left-wing parties for potential support.

To gain leftist support, Macron's team suggested the president was evaluating a pause to part of his controversial social security adjustments enacted last year which increased the pension age from 62 to 64.

That fell short of what progressive chiefs desired, as they were expecting he would select a premier from their camp. Olivier Faure of the leftist party commented “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” for the premier.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party said after meeting the president that the left wanted substantive shifts, and a leader from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the public.

Environmental party head the Green figure expressed shock Macron had provided few concessions to the progressives, adding that the situation would deteriorate.