French President Emmanuel Macron will host party leaders next Friday for "a series of discussions" aimed a breaking the country's political deadlock, more than a month after legislative elections resulted in defeat for his ruling party and a hung parliament.
French President Emmanuel Macron will convene party leaders on August 23 for a series of consultations, the Élysée said Friday, in a bid to form a government following the snap elections.
France still does not have a new prime minister, weeks after legislative elections that produced a lower-house National Assembly with no clear majority.
Macron said in July he would seek to name a new prime minister after the Paris Olympics, which ended on August 11, stressing that parties in a fractured parliament must come together to build a broad coalition first.
While the successful Olympic Games have lifted what was a morose mood in France, analysts say that it is far from certain this could boost Macron's embattled fortunes.
The aim of next Friday's meetings with presidents of the party groups in the National Assemly and Senate is to "build the broadest and most stable majority possible to serve the country", Macron's office said in a statement.
"In the legislative elections, the French people expressed their desire for change and a broad-based consensus. In a spirit of responsibility, all political leaders must work to implement this desire," the statement added, saying the appointment of a new prime minister will follow on from these talks.
The left-wing New Popular Front, which emerged as the largest faction post-election, has said it wants the economist Lucie Castets, 37, to be the new premier.
Macron is prepared to receive Castets during the discussions next week, a member of the president's team told AFP.
"The president is obviously not opposed to this if it is a collective request," said the source.
In late July, Macron dismissed a left-wing alliance's push to name a new prime minister.
Macron's forces would prefer an alliance with the traditional right and part of the centre-left, with the name of former minister and current head of the northern Hauts de France region, Xavier Bertrand, frequently cited as a candidate to lead a centre-focused coalition.
Macron has ruled out a government role for either hard-left France Unbowed or Marine Le Pen's far-right in any new coalition.
The government of Macron allies, under Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, has carried on in a caretaker capacity throughout the Games.
In June, Macron shocked the nation by dissolving parliament and calling snap elections. Seats in the 577-strong assembly are now divided between three similarly sized blocs.
Any French government needs to be able to survive a confidence vote in the chamber or risk immediate ejection.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP)
