French parties begin talks to form government after chaotic election

Newly elected lawmakers have arrived in France’s lower house of parliament to begin talks to form a government after chaotic election results split parliament into left-wing, centre and far-right parties.

President Emmanuel Macron has asked Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to continue to deal with day-to-day matters less than three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris.

Mr. Macron heads to the NATO summit in Washington on Wednesday.

In Sunday’s election, no faction came close to the majority needed to form a government, increasing the risk of paralysing the European Union’s second-largest economy.

While a divided parliament is not uncommon in Europe, it is unprecedented in France’s modern history.

Leaders of the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, which won the most seats, say they should form a new government.

The three main coalition parties — far-left France Unbowed, the Socialists and the Greens — have begun negotiations to find a candidate for prime minister.

As Cyrielle Chatelain, a Green Party deputy, said, the New Popular Front “is the leading republican force in this country and therefore its responsibility is to form a government… to implement the public policies expected by the French people.”

Far-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot said: “The French hardline legislators are entering the National Assembly not as an opposition force… but as a force that intends to govern the country.”

Their conversations are complicated by internal divisions. Some push for a far-left figure, while others, closer to the left of center, prefer a more consensual persona.

The French Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament and can be dismissed by a vote of no confidence.

France Unbowed and Green members arrived at the National Assembly on Tuesday morning. Socialist lawmakers, including former president Francois Hollande, were due to meet in the afternoon.

Socialist Party chief negotiator Johanna Rolland said the next prime minister would not be Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the controversial and far-left founder of the France Unbowed party who has angered many moderate politicians.

In an interview with France 2 television on Tuesday, she suggested that the left-wing coalition could possibly work with the centre-left members of Mr Macron’s alliance. “We will be open,” she said.

According to official results, all three main blocs won far fewer than the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the most powerful of France’s two houses of parliament.

The results showed the left-wing New Popular Front coalition winning just over 180 seats, with Mr Macron’s centrist coalition in second place with over 160 seats.

The far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen’s party, and its allies finished only third, although their 140 seats were still significantly more than the party’s previous best result of 89 seats in 2022.

Mr. Macron has three years left in his presidential term.