France faces coalition puzzle after left-wing surge
World
France faces coalition puzzle after left-wing surge
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday asked his prime minister to stay in the role for now, pending what will be difficult negotiations to form a new government after a surprise left-wing surge in elections that delivered a hung parliament.
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, with no single group securing a working majority, the outcome heralded a period of political volatility just before the Paris Olympics and raised uncertainty among investors about who would run the euro zone's second largest economy.
"It's not going to be simple, no, it's not going to be easy, and no, it's not going to be comfortable," Green party leader Marine Tondelier told France Inter radio. "It's going to take a bit of time."
The range of possibilities include the NFP forming a minority government or the cobbling together of an unwieldy coalition of parties with almost no common ground.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a centrist and close ally of Macron, tendered his resignation but the head of state 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.
Markets were wary after elections left France facing a hung parliament and the prospect of tough negotiations to form a government.
A fragmented parliament will make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda and is likely to weaken France's role in the European Union and further afield.
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. Other media had slightly different counts, and final numbers will depend partly on individual MPs joining different groupings.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was seen entering the Elysee presidential palace shortly after Attal, suggesting the president was canvassing opinions from his allies about what to do next.
NO CONSENSUS ON LEFT
The NFP, hastily assembled for this election in an attempt to unify the left-wing vote against the far right, has no single leader and did not say before the election who would be its pick for prime minister.
Tondelier, one of a number of NFP figures seen as potential candidates for the post, said on France Inter radio it could be someone from the hard-left France Unbowed party, the Greens or the Socialists, the three largest parties in the alliance.
