French PM offers to resign to Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied the resignation of Prime Minister and political ally Gabriel Attal.

In a statement, the Elysee Palace said that “the President asked that Attal remain as Prime Minister for the time being to ensure stability in the country.”

Attal had entered the presidential office on Monday (8) to present his resignation after parliamentary elections in which the government’s political camp lost its role as the strongest party on the left in a divided parliament.

Attal had already signaled the measure on Sunday (7) – which follows French political tradition – saying he was prepared to remain in office for longer as interim, but that it was up to the president to decide.

Surprising turn from the left

France’s left-wing New Popular Front has won 182 seats in parliament, according to a tally of votes from the second round of the country’s legislative elections. Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, the Ensemble, came in second with 168 seats. The far-right National Rally won 143 seats.

None of the three coalitions achieved an absolute majority of 289 seats. Therefore, the formation of a new government will have to be negotiated.

France recorded a high turnout in the second round, which resulted in a change in the result compared to the first round, with the majority of seats going to the left-wing New Popular Front coalition.

The elections were called early by French President Emmanuel Macron after his centrist party lost ground to the far-right in the European Parliament.

But Macron’s gamble has now put France at an impasse in terms of governability.

The election will leave the French parliament divided into three large groups, with extremely different platforms and no tradition of working together.