France was in the hands of a caretaker government on Monday after snap parliamentary elections defeated the far right but failed to produce a majority for any political camp. With parliament roughly divided into three disparate groups, there are no obvious candidates for the prime minister who will lead a new French government.
The outcome of the legislative elections, called by President Emmanuel Macron three years ahead of schedule, leaves France without any clear path to forming a new government less than three weeks before the Paris Olympics.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal submitted his resignation on Monday morning, but the president's office said that it had asked him to stay on as caretaker PM "for the time being" for the sake of stability.
The left is emerging as the biggest group in the new parliament but has yet to even agree on a figure who it would want to be the new prime minister.
The unprecedented situation is taking shape just as Macron is due to be out of the country for most of the week, taking part in a NATO summit in Washington.
Surprise election win for left-green coalition plunges France into uncertainty
Left seeks common line
Early results from the second and final round of voting on Sunday showed the left won 187 seats, Macron's centrist alliance 159 and the far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies 142.
The outcome delivered a stinging blow to Macron and leaves France in limbo, heralding a period of political instability rarely seen in the country's post-war history.
Parties from the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) – made up of the hard-left France Unbowed, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Greens – met overnight for the first talks on how to proceed.
[Slideshow] Jubilant crowds fill Place de la République in Paris after exit polls
The bloc – which was formed in haste to fight the snap elections – has no overall leader, and its parties are divided over who they could select as a suitable premier.
Short of an outright majority by around 100 seats, the NFP will also rely on alliances with other groupings if it is to govern.
"The NFP will enact its programme, nothing but its programme but its complete programme," Jean-Luc Melenchon, the polarising leader of France Unbowed, the biggest party in the alliance, insisted on Sunday night.
Meanwhile Olivier Faure, head of the Socialists, ruled out a "coalition of opposites, which would betray the votes of the French public".
President's choice
Parts of the left remain bitterly opposed to many of the outgoing government's flagship policies, notably its hard-fought pension reform.
Some prominent centrist figures, including Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron, said they were ready to work on a pact to ensure a stable government.
Yet while centrists encouraged their supporters to block the far right in the second round by voting tactically for candidates from the mainstream right and left, many of Macron's allies have said they see France Unbowed as another dangerous extreme.
Some on the right have floated the idea of a so-called "moderate bloc" made up of the centre and those lightly to the right and left of it.
Cautious relief in Europe as French vote keeps far right from power
Under the French constitution, the president is responsible for appointing a prime minister, who can be anyone from inside or outside parliament.
But the choice is effectively subject to MPs' approval, who can overturn it with a vote of no confidence.
Macron, who has yet to speak in public since the vote, is calling for "prudence and analysis of the results", an aide told French news agency AFP, asking not to be named.
According to the constitution, fresh parliamentary elections cannot now be called for at least one year.
(with newswires)
