AFP (Paris) – French President Emmanuel Macron will next week convene party leaders for a series of consultations, the Elysee said Friday, in a bid to break political deadlock and form a government following snap elections.
Weeks after legislative elections which produced a lower-house National Assembly with no clear majority, France still does not have a new prime minister.
Macron said in July he would seek to name a new prime minister after the Paris Olympics, which ended on 11 August, 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.
Macron must face political truths as Olympics euphoria wears off
On Friday, the Elysee presidential office said Macron invited party leaders to take part in "a series of discussions" on 23 August, with a view to attempting to form a government.
The appointment of a prime minister will follow on from these consultations and their conclusions," the presidency said in a statement.
Noting that the French people had expressed "a desire for change and broad unity", the Elysee hopes that the consultations will help move towards "the broadest and most stable majority possible."
Macron dismisses left-wing demand for new PM, urges post-Olympics unity
In late July, Macron dismissed a left-wing alliance's push to name a new prime minister.
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.
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.
