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French president Emmanuel Macron has refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister Gabriel Attal, asking him to stay on as the country faces weeks of political instability after a shock snap election result.
A left-wing alliance called New Popular Front won the most seats, with Mr Macron’s centrist grouping coming second. That pushed Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) into third, but with no party holding a majority. Le Pen’s party won the first round of the election late last month, but tactical voting – with more than 200 candidates, mostly from the left-wing alliance and the centrists, dropping out so as not to split the anti-RN vote.
Mr Attal had offered his resignation in the wake of the result, but Mr Macron has said he needs to stay on for now “to ensure the stability of the country” as the deal-making begins.
It comes as France's economic minister, Bruno Le Maire, faced three major risks over the political deadlock. He said the immediate risk was a "financial crisis and economic decline". The other two are an "ideological fracture of the nation” and a parliament full of “scattered” ideas from sides all with different agendas.
