French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday rejected the resignation of the country's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and asked him to temporarily remain as head of government after the results of the chaotic elections that left the government in a dilemma.
“The president asked Gabriel to remain in his position for the time being in order to ensure the stability of the country,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
French voters in the Legislative Council were divided between the left, the center, and the extreme right, leaving no faction even close to the majority needed to form the government.
The results of Sunday's vote raised the risk of paralyzing the second largest economy in the European Union.
Macron gambled that his decision to call early elections would give France a “moment of clarity,” but the result showed the opposite, less than 3 weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, which may push the country’s crisis into the international arena.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had said he would remain in office if necessary, but submitted his resignation on Monday morning.
Macron, who appointed him only 7 months ago, immediately asked him to remain in his position “to ensure the stability of the country.”
Attal made clear on Sunday that he did not agree with Macron's decision to call snap elections.
The results of the two voting rounds did not leave any clear path to forming a government, whether for the left-wing coalition that came first, Macron's centrist coalition, or the far-right.
What happened in the French elections?
After the end of the French parliamentary elections that took place on Sunday, which will likely lead to a hung parliament with a left-wing coalition in the lead but without an absolute majority.
The New Popular Front coalition in France was able to win the largest number of seats in the second round of parliamentary elections, with opinion poll estimates indicating that the Left Alliance, which includes the far left, the Socialists and the Greens, will win with between 172 and 215 seats out of 577, but it will not reach 289. seats needed to ensure an absolute majority in the House of Representatives.
According to preliminary estimates, President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition will come in second place with a slight margin and win between 150 and 180 seats.
The right-wing National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen will win between 115 and 155 seats.
The result represents a severe defeat for the far-right National Rally, which was expected to win the election, but suffered after the New Popular Front and its bloc worked together for President Emmanuel Macron between the first and second rounds of the election and cast a counter-vote to the National Rally.
This means that none of the three blocs will be able to form a majority government and will need support from the others to pass the legislation.
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