French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation request on Monday, asking him to manage current affairs, the day after the legislative elections that saw the opposition leftist coalition win over the country’s political forces without achieving an absolute majority.
Attal arrived at the Elysee Palace at noon to tender his resignation, in keeping with Republican tradition. But Macron asked him to stay on “for the sake of the country’s stability,” according to the French presidency, three weeks before Paris hosts the Summer Olympics.
After the surprise results of the legislative elections, which limited the rise of the far right, the French political class began deliberations today, Monday, to build a majority and appoint a prime minister.
But there is a dilemma, as neither the New Popular Front (left, about 190 seats), nor the presidential camp (about 160 seats), nor the National Front party and its allies (far right, more than 140 seats) alone were able to achieve an absolute majority (289 seats).
French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned on Monday of the risk of a “financial crisis” and an “economic downturn.”
The left has launched extensive manoeuvres. “Within a week, we must present a candidate” to head the government, said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, speaking of a consensus or a vote.
For her part, Greens leader Marine Tondellier, a member of the New Popular Front, considered that the president “should today invite” the Front to nominate a name to him.
But the left-wing coalition, which was hastily formed the day after Macron dissolved the National Assembly, includes blocs that differ on many points: the left in the France Insoumise party, the Socialists, the Communists and the Greens.
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