Prime Minister Gabriel Attal submitted his resignation to Macron on Monday but was asked to remain in power in a caretaker capacity to see out the Olympic Games and reassure the markets that France still has a government.
Macron’s office said, after the meeting, that the president had thanked Attal for leading the centrist alliance in the European and legislative elections and asked him to stay “for the time being in order to ensure the stability of the country.”
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won most seats in Sunday’s second-round parliamentary vote, beating both Macron’s centrists and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).
But no group wields an outright majority, and no obvious candidate for prime minister has emerged.
Many in France were overjoyed by the outcome, and cheering crowds gathered in eastern Paris to celebrate Le Pen’s defeat, but potentially divisive talks on forming a new government were just beginning, three weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics.
‘No Illusion’
The international reaction was muted and mixed.
France’s EU partners are relieved that Le Pen’s eurosceptic party will not come to power, where they could endanger future European integration and western support for Ukraine.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s administration was “somewhat relieved over what didn’t happen,” spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin.
Moscow, meanwhile, tried to mask its disappointment.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would have preferred a win by “political forces ready to make the efforts to restore our bilateral relationships.”
In Paris, Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said the NFP’s allied parties would choose a candidate to replace Attal “either by consensus or a vote” this week.
But the debate on the left about cabinet names will be fierce.
The biggest NFP component is the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) of firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, a divisive figure who is anathema to the right and center and has alienated many fellow leftists.
Divided Parliament
After they won the June 30 first round of the elections by a clear margin, Sunday’s results were a major disappointment for Le Pen’s RN, despite boasting its biggest ever contingent in parliament.
Macron’s centrist alliance will have dozens fewer members of parliament, but it held up better than expected and could even end up in second place when seat numbers are confirmed.
The left-wing NFP brought the previously deeply divided Socialists, Greens, Communists, and the hard-left LFI together.
Projections and provisional results show the NFP will be the largest bloc in the new National Assembly with around 190 seats, Macron’s alliance with around 160 seats, and the RN with about 140.
‘Victory Delayed’
Only one week ago, some polls indicated the RN could win just such an absolute majority, with Le Pen’s 28-year-old lieutenant Jordan Bardella becoming prime minister.
Instead, he will remain an MEP.
The question for France now is whether this alliance of last resort can support a stable government while dogged by a still substantial RN bloc in parliament led by Le Pen.
Dave Clark, with AFP
