PARIS, July 12, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - France's political parties scrambled
Friday to break a parliamentary deadlock brought on by an inconclusive snap
election, as the outgoing prime minister vowed to prevent any government with
far-right or hard-left members.

A runoff Sunday left the National Assembly without any overall majority, but
a broad alliance of Socialists, Communists, Greens and the hard-left France
Unbowed (LFI) won the most seats, with 193 in the 577-strong lower chamber.

Voters from different camps joined forces in the second round to shut the
far-right National Rally (RN) out of power in a "republican front", allowing
President Emmanuel Macron's followers to claim second place with 164 seats
and leaving the far right in third at 143.

With each of the three blocs controlling roughly one-third of the chamber,
political leaders are admitting it may be a long slog to find a government
able to survive a no-confidence vote.

Macron has rejected LFI demands they should be tasked with forming the next
government, appearing to rule out a role for either LFI -- the largest player
in the New Popular Front (NFP) left alliance -- or the far-right RN in any
new coalition.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal echoed that stance Friday saying that he would
seek "to guard against any government" that included RN or LFI ministers.

- 'Narrowly escaped extinction' -

In a document outlining his bid to take the leadership of the Macron-allied
"Renaissance" parliamentary group, Attal acknowledged it had "narrowly
escaped extinction" in the vote.

As party group leader, Attal said he would "completely revise our methods and
our organisation".

Attal, the only candidate to take over the Renaissance parliamentary
leadership, said he hoped to "contribute to the emergence of a majority
concerning projects and ideas" in the future parliament.

Renaissance deputies are to elect their new leader on Saturday. If voted in,
Attal said he would rename the formation "Together for the Republic".

The document, seen by AFP, made no mention of Macron, with reports suggesting
that Attal is distancing himself from his former mentor, blaming Macron's
decision to dissolve parliament and call the election for the political
quagmire.

Under the French constitution Macron, who has just under three years left of
his second presidential term, will appoint the next prime minister.

The nominee must be able to garner enough support to negotiate the first
hurdle, a confidence vote in the National Assembly.

There is, meanwhile, a good chance that the current government remains in
place until after the Paris Olympic Games which open on July 26, according to
political observers.

- 'More time needed' -

The leftist NFP, which had initially promised to suggest a candidate for
prime minister to Macron by the end of the week, on Friday acknowledged that
it probably wouldn't be able to.

"I'd rather not set a deadline," said LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard, telling
the TF1 broadcaster that "more time may be needed for discussions".

Green party boss Marine Tondelier said the problem was that "everybody claims
that they are the biggest group" which she said showed that vote size was
perhaps not "the most important criterion".

A source within the Socialist party who declined to be named said the LFI had
put forward four names, including that of firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon who is
unacceptable to all other parties, and controversial even among LFI members.

The head of the RN, Marine Le Pen, has already threatened that her deputies
would reject any government that included LFI or Green ministers.

The RN's vice president Sebastien Chenu meanwhile said that he saw "no
satisfactory solution" to the current standoff "except a kind of technocratic
government without political affiliation".