France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal tendered his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday following his party’s failure to secure a parliamentary majority. However, he expressed willingness to continue serving “as long as duty requires,” especially with the Paris Olympics just three weeks away.
Meanwhile, a coalition of left-wing French parties appeared poised to become the largest parliamentary bloc, surpassing both the far-right and Macron’s coalition, according to unexpected projected results. The election outcome left no single group with a clear majority, creating political uncertainty as France prepares for a major NATO summit and the upcoming Olympics.
Attal indicated he would present his resignation on Monday but was prepared to stay in office “as long as duty demands,” particularly in light of the approaching Games.
The New Popular Front (NFP), formed recently after snap elections were called by Macron, unified previously divided factions including the Socialists, Greens, Communists, and the hard-left France Unbowed.
Despite initial predictions favoring Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) after the first round of voting on June 30, subsequent projections indicated no party was on track for an outright majority.
The left-wing NFP emerged ahead of Macron’s centrist Ensemble and Le Pen’s eurosceptic RN.
Macron, yet to publicly comment on the projections, urged caution and a thorough analysis of the results, according to an unnamed aide.
Le Pen, in response, stated, “The tide is rising. It didn’t rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise, and therefore, our victory has only been postponed.”
