🔗 Share this article

President Emmanuel Macron has called upon his former prime minister to come back as French prime minister a mere four days after he resigned, sparking a period of high drama and crisis.

Macron made the announcement towards the end of the week, hours after meeting key political groups together at the presidential palace, excluding the representatives of the political extremes.

Lecornu's return came as a surprise, as he declared on television recently that he was not interested in returning and his role had concluded.

There is uncertainty whether he will be able to assemble a cabinet, 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 Budgetary Strains

The presidency confirmed the president had assigned him to build a cabinet, and those close to the president indicated he had been given complete freedom to proceed.

Lecornu, who is one of a trusted associate, then published a detailed message on an online platform in which he consented to as an obligation the mission given to him by the president, to make every effort to secure a national budget by the year's conclusion and address the everyday problems of our fellow citizens.

Ideological disagreements over how to lower government borrowing and reduce the fiscal shortfall have led to the fall of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his challenge is enormous.

Government liabilities earlier this year was nearly 114 percent of economic output (GDP) – the number three in the currency union – and the annual fiscal gap is projected to hit 5.4% of economic output.

The premier emphasized that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of restoring the nation's budget. Given the limited time before the completion of his mandate, he cautioned that those in the cabinet would have to put on hold their presidential ambitions.

Governing Without a Majority

Compounding the challenge for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where Macron has lacks sufficient support to endorse his government. The president's popularity hit a record low this week, according to research that put his public backing on 14 percent.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was excluded of the president's discussions with faction heads on the end of the week, commented that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president out of touch at the Élysée, is a misstep.

The National Rally would promptly introduce a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose sole purpose was avoiding a vote, he continued.

Building Alliances

The prime minister at least is aware of the challenges in his path as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already spent two days lately consulting parties that might join his government.

Alone, the central groups are insufficient, and there are disagreements within the conservative Republicans who have supported Macron's governments since he lost his majority in the previous vote.

So Lecornu will look to socialist factions for potential support.

In an attempt to court the left, Macron's team hinted the president was considering a delay to part of his controversial social security adjustments passed in 2023 which increased the pension age from 62 to 64.

The offer was inadequate of what socialist figures hoped for, as they were anticipating he would choose a premier from their side. The Socialist leader of the leftist party stated lacking commitments, they would withhold backing in a vote of confidence.

The Communist figure from the left-wing party stated following discussions that the left wanted genuine reform, and a prime minister from the moderate faction would not be supported by the French people.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier remarked she was surprised the president had offered the left almost nothing to the progressives, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.