🔗 Share this article

President Emmanuel Macron has asked Sébastien Lecornu to resume duties as French prime minister only four days after he stepped down, sparking a period of intense uncertainty and crisis.

Macron declared towards the end of the week, shortly after gathering all the main parties in one place at the official residence, excluding the figures of the extremist parties.

His reappointment shocked many, as he declared on television recently that he was not “chasing the job” 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. He faces a time limit on the start of the week to present the annual budget before the National Assembly.

Leadership Hurdles and Budgetary Strains

The presidency said the president had assigned him to build a cabinet, and those close to the president indicated he had been given “carte blanche” to act.

The prime minister, who is one of the president's key supporters, then released a long statement on X in which he agreed to take on as an obligation the task entrusted to me by the president, to do everything to provide France with a budget by the year's conclusion and tackle the everyday problems of our compatriots.

Partisan conflicts over how to lower the country's public debt and reduce the fiscal shortfall have resulted in the resignation of several leaders in the past twelve months, so his task is immense.

Government liabilities earlier this year was nearly 114 percent of national income – the third highest in the euro area – and the annual fiscal gap is expected to reach 5.4% of economic output.

Lecornu emphasized that everyone must contribute the necessity of restoring the nation's budget. With only 18 months before the completion of his mandate, he cautioned that prospective ministers would have to delay their aspirations for higher office.

Governing Without a Majority

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a parliamentary test in a legislative body where Macron has is short of votes to support him. His public standing reached its lowest point recently, according to a survey that put his public backing on just 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, which was left out of the president's discussions with party leaders on the end of the week, commented that Lecornu's reappointment, by a president out of touch at the official residence, is a poor decision.

They would quickly propose a motion of censure against a doomed coalition, whose only reason for being was avoiding a vote, he continued.

Forming Coalitions

The prime minister at least is aware of the challenges he faces as he tries to establish a cabinet, because he has already used time recently talking to factions that might support him.

Alone, the centrist parties lack a majority, and there are disagreements 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.

As a gesture to progressives, the president's advisors indicated the president was thinking of postponing to some aspects of his highly contentious pension reforms enacted last year which raised the retirement age from 62 up to 64.

That fell short of what socialist figures wanted, as they were hoping he would choose a premier from the left. Olivier Faure of the leftist party said “since we've not been given any guarantees, we won't give any guarantee” in a vote of confidence.

Fabien Roussel from the left-wing party commented post-consultation that the left wanted genuine reform, and a leader from the president's centrist camp would not be accepted by the public.

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