French President, Emmanuel Macron refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister, asking him on Monday, July 8 to remain temporarily as the head of the government after the weekend’s chaotic election results that left the government in limbo.
Macron on Monday his PM to stay, pending difficult negotiations to form a new government after a left-wing surge delivered a parliament divided into three.
The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election, thwarting Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far-right to power.
However, no party has secured a working majority, meaning the electoral outcome heralded a period of political volatility.
Possibilities open to the French government include the NFP forming a minority government or the coming together of a coalition of right, left and centrist parties with no common ground, meaning legislation might never get passed by Parliament.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a centrist and close ally of Macron, tendered his resignation on Sunday, but the head of state, Macron rejected it.
“The President has asked Gabriel Attal to remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country’s stability,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
A fragmented parliament will weaken France’s role in the European Union. The left won 182 seats, Macron’s centrist alliance 168 and Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and allies 143, Interior Ministry data cited by Le Monde newspaper showed.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of the most divisive figures in French politics, explicitly ruled out any deal with centrists on Sunday, and on Monday his ally Eric Bompard sounded uncompromising.
“The president must appoint as prime minister someone from the New Popular Front to implement the NFP’s programme, the whole programme and nothing but the programme,” he said on France 2 television.
However, there is little chance that any of the left-wing bloc’s key proposals, which include raising the minimum wage, reversing Macron’s pension reform and capping the prices of key goods, would pass a parliamentary vote without some kind of agreement with lawmakers from outside the bloc.