France’s Macron to hold talks with key political players in a bid to form a new government

PARIS (news agencies) — French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks with key political players in a bid to form a new government, after surprise legislative elections last month resulted in no party winning the majority at the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of parliament.

Macron’s office said meetings with leaders of France’s main political parties will be held on Friday and Monday at the Elysee presidential palace in order to “keep moving towards the broadest and most stable majority possible.”

“The appointment of a prime minister will follow on from these consultations and their conclusions,” the statement said.

A leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, won about one-third of the seats at the National Assembly, more than any other group, in last month’s legislative elections. Macron’s centrist alliance came out second and the far-right National Rally emerged in third position.

The absence of any dominant political bloc — and the prospect of a hung parliament and political paralysis — is unprecedented in France’s modern Republic.

The New Popular Front has insisted that, as the largest group, the prime minister should come out of their ranks. The coalition selected little-known civil servant Lucie Castets as their choice for prime minister.

Castets will participate in Friday’s talks alongside top figures of the New Popular Front, which includes the hard-left France Unbowed, the Socialists and the Greens.

Centrists and conservatives will also meet with Macron on Friday, while National Rally leaders are expected to come to the Elysee on Monday.

Macron last month appeared to dismiss Castets, saying in a televised interview “the issue is not a name provided by a political group” and stressing instead the need for a parliamentary majority behind the candidate.

Macron’s office said his decision for a new prime minister will be based on ensuring stability and a new government that will not soon be overthrown by a no-confidence vote at parliament.

Politicians from the center, the right and the far right have suggested they would try to bring down any government that includes members from the France Unbowed party.

Some other names have been widely reported in French media as potential candidates for the job of prime minister as Macron appears more keen to seek a coalition that could gather politicians from the center-left to the traditional right.

They include center-left politician Bernard Cazeneuve, who served as France’s top cop during a series of bloody terror attacks in 2015, and Xavier Bertrand, a former minister considered relatively moderate within the French right. Conservative politician Michel Barnier, EU’s chief negotiator for post-Brexit talks, is also considered a potential candidate.

There is no firm timeline for when Macron must name a new prime minister. As president, Macron is in sole charge of naming the prime minister according to the French Constitution.

The French president said last month he would keep the outgoing centrist government on a purely caretaker role to “handle current affairs” especially during the Olympics that ended on Aug. 11.