Former French President Francois Hollande looks up as he poses with newly elected parliament members of the Socialist party, at the National Assembly, Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Paris. French voters have given a broad leftist coalition the most parliamentary seats in a pivotal legislative election that has kept the far right from power but has put France in the unprecedented position of having no dominant political bloc in parliament. 

The leftist coalition that won the most seats in France’s National Assembly in surprise results demanded on Tuesday the immediate right to form a government, even though no grouping won a majority of seats.

It is unprecedented in France's modern history to have a fractured parliament. Sunday’s vote raised the risk of paralysis for the European Union’s second-largest economy. The legislature is split between the New Popular Front leftist coalition, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist allies and the far-right National Rally.

Macron on Monday asked his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, to continue handling day-to-day affairs, despite Attal's offer of resignation, less than three weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics. Macron leaves Wednesday for a NATO summit in Washington.

The leftist coalition's three main parties — the hard-left France Unbowed, the Socialists and the Greens — began negotiations to find a candidate for prime minister. The coalition in a statement called on Macron to “immediately turn to the New Popular Front" and allow it to form a government. It said the “prolonged retention” of Attal could be seen as an attempt to erase the election results.

“We solemnly warn the president of the republic against any attempts to hijack the institutions,” the statement said, adding: “If the president continues to ignore the results it will amount to betrayal of our constitution and a coup against democracy, which we will strongly oppose.”

The leftist coalition includes France’s former Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has made an unexpected comeback on the political stage as one of the most prominent candidates in the elections, winning a seat in his hometown. He’s seen as a key player but didn't speak to journalists as he joined fellow members of the Socialist party.

The New Popular Front “is the leading Republican force in this country and it is therefore its responsibility to form a government ... to implement the public policies expected by the French people,” Green lawmaker Cyrielle Chatelain said.

Talks within the leftist coalition are complicated by internal divisions now that the goal for its hurried formation in recent days — keeping the far right from power in France — has been achieved.

Some are pushing for a hard-left figure for prime minister, while others closer to the center-left prefer a more consensual personality. France’s prime minister is accountable to parliament and can be ousted through a no-confidence vote.

“France Unbowed lawmakers are going into the National Assembly not as an opposition force ... but as a force that intends to govern the country," hard-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot said.

The top negotiator for the Socialist party, Johanna Rolland, said the future prime minister won’t be Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the divisive hard-left founder of France Unbowed who has angered many moderates. Mélenchon, who did not run in the legislative elections, joined the talks at the National Assembly.

Speaking on France 2 television, Rolland suggested the leftist coalition could work with center-left members of Macron’s alliance.

Some were accepting the need to make deals and get along.

“In my view, the French people sent us a clear message. They did not want to give an absolute majority to any specific political bloc so they’re ordering us to listen to one another, work together and that’s what we need to do," said Yael Braun-Pivet, a member of Macron’s centrist alliance and former president of the National Assembly.

According to official results, all three main blocs fell far short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers.

The results showed just over 180 seats for the New Popular Front, more than 160 for Macron’s centrist alliance and more than 140 for the far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen.

Macron has three years remaining in his presidential term.

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French parliament faces complex puzzle in post-election coalition talks

A broad leftist coalition has come out on top following pivotal legislative elections in France, but has still fallen short of an absolute majority — forcing parliament and the executive into a difficult negotiations to agree on a prime minister.

After a major advance for the far right in the first round of polling, the electorate ultimately kept the Nationally Rally party at bay, leaving the country in the unprecedented position of having no dominant political bloc in parliament.

Three major blocs have emerged, and none of them is close to holding a majority of at least 289 seats out of 577. Instead, the result allocates 182 seats for the New Popular Front leftist coalition, 168 for President Emmanuel Macron's Together for the Republic centrist coalition, and 143 for the far-right National Rally party.

The results mean Macron's centrist allies almost certainly won't be able to implement their pro-business proposals such as a promise to overhaul unemployment benefits. It could also make passing a budget more difficult.

While a fractured parliament is not uncommon in Europe, France has not experienced one in its modern history. That sets the stage for tense negotiations to form a new government and appoint a prime minister, whose job will be to focus on domestic policy and shares power with the president.

No obvious candidate has yet emerged. While Macron can put forward a name, he would still need the support from a parliamentary majority — this after his bloc came an embarrassing second in the snap election he called.

Macron, who is heading to Washington this week for a NATO summit, says he will wait to decide his next steps. But new legislators start work on Monday, and their first session is scheduled for 18 July.

Macron may seek a deal with more moderate elements of the left, but France has no tradition of this kind of arrangement. Such negotiations are therefore expected to be difficult, and could result in an informal and fragile alliance.

Sylvain Maillard, a former president of the Renaissance group at the National Assembly who was re-elected under the Ensemble banner, suggests it will take “several weeks” to form a majority.

“It's just that it's going to take time for us to have a programmatic basis. It's not in France's culture to have to build coalitions and alliances, so it's going to take a little longer. But when I look at our European partners, it takes several weeks, so we're probably in for several weeks of discussions," he said.

Macron has previously said he will not work with the hard-left France Unbowed party, but he could yet reach out to other parties in the New Popular Front such as the Socialists and the Greens. However, that doesn't mean they will be open to his offer.

One person unlikely to be in the picture is the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

While Mélenchon says the leftist alliance is “ready to govern", Macron refuses to work with him, and so far his own coalition has not proposed him — or anyone else — for the job. The 72-year-old founder of France Unbowed is disliked by many moderates and often perceived as authoritarian.

Political rivals have argued that the left's win in Sunday's parliamentary elections stemmed more from fear of the far right than any attraction for Mélenchon or his party. For now, New Popular Front leaders say further internal discussions are needed.

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French voters blocked the far right — for now. What's next?

One word encapsulates French politics after last week’s parliamentary elections: impasse.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally failed to gain a majority — but neither did the leftist alliance New Popular Front nor the centrists of President Emmanuel Macron.

With the 2024 Paris Olympics fast approaching, the result is a divided Parliament, which could lead to months of political maneuvering and painstaking negotiations to secure a coalition government in a country with no recent history of bipartisan power-sharing.

Meanwhile, the far right has not gone away. Le Pen will likely be focusing on France’s biggest political prize: the 2027 presidential election.

Here’s what to know:

The French political system has never been in this situation before. After the second round of legislative elections, no party won a majority 289 seats out of 577 seats in the National Assembly, the French equivalent of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New Popular Front, a broad leftist alliance comprising the radical France Unbowed along with communists, greens and moderate socialists, achieved the best result.

But the 182 seats it won were still far short of the number needed to govern. The centrist coalition of Macron, a group called Together for the Republic, came second with 168.

Although these centrists and leftists had teamed up and agreed to endorse each other’s candidates where necessary, the National Rally — a populist rebranding of France’s old National Front party — came third with 143 seats.

Led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, the party had looked set to win outright following the first round of voting last month. But the tactical-voting agreement, known as the “cordon sanitaire,” or “Republican front,” held during Sunday's second round and the far right was blocked.

“There is a danger in France” of a far-right victory so “we need to vote,” one Parisian, Anne Boudin, 58, told NBC News on Sunday as she went to cast her ballot in the contest’s second round.

Many were similarly compelled and the voter turnout of 67.1% was the highest in decades.

Though the political mainstream had not won, it had not lost either and some claimed an important victory.

“No absolute majority can be led by the extremes, thanks to our determination and the strength of our values,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in a speech outside his official Paris residence, Hôtel Matignon, on Sunday evening.

“We owe it to this French spirit.” added Attal, who made it made clear that he disagreed with Macron’s decision to call the surprise elections.

His offer to resign after the second round of voting was nonetheless refused by Macron. Instead, Macron asked Attal, whom he named as prime minister just seven months ago, to carry on at the head of a caretaker government until a coalition is formed, “in order to ensure the country’s stability.”

So who governs?

Because no one won a majority of seats, France has what’s known as a hung parliament. This means the parties will have to work together — either informally or as part of a coalition — if they want to get anything done.

It’s far from certain whether they will be able to do this. As in the United States, French politics is polarized over issues such as immigration and taxes. And unlike in neighboring Germany and elsewhere, there is no culture of bipartisan power-sharing here.

That’s partly because the French system was designed so that the prime minister and Parliament would enforce the will of the more powerful president, according to Jonathan Eyal, international director at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.

There’s no playbook for what happens if these forces are fighting against each other, he said.

“Even if there were a coalition, it’s not clear how it would work,” Eyal added.

Veteran socialist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 72, demanded Sunday that Macron appoint a prime minister from his New Popular Front alliance. But Macron has previously refused to work with Mélenchon or the hard-left faction he represents, calling them “extremists.”

Macron could try to form a coalition with other more moderate elements of this alliance. Last week he ditched a policy curbing workers’ social security payments, seen by many to be a mid-election olive branch to progressives.

“That’s the only way I can see them forming a government,” Eyal said. “But Mélenchon is not going to allow himself to be outmaneuvered easily, so we can expect quite a bit of a tussle.”

If no coalition can be formed, the parties will have to try to pass legislation on a case-by-case basis — a high-wire act whose failure would result in an impasse, perhaps even diminishing France’s influence on the European and global stage.

What comes next?

Macron was not up for election this time and will stay on until his second and final presidential term ends in 2027.

Even if he does manage to cobble together a government, it will be hard for Macron to pursue his pro-business agenda. Likewise, the leftists with their hopes of raising the minimum wage and freezing energy prices.

In the short term, opponents of the far-right are claiming at least some semblance of victory. But few are kidding themselves that this is the end of the debate. Le Pen’s party won just eight seats in 2017, a rise that if continued will deliver it into power within the decade.

“The tide is rising,” Le Pen said following Sunday’s result. “It didn’t rise high enough this time, but it’s still rising and, as a result, our victory is only deferred.”

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Most French Say Country Is ‘Ungovernable’ After Vote, Poll Shows

France has become ungovernable after the snap legislative elections left the country with a deeply divided parliament and no obvious path toward a stable government, according to three-quarters of respondents in a poll by Elabe.

The survey also showed that 71% of the 1,002 adults interviewed are dissatisfied with the results of the vote and the new composition of the National Assembly. Additionally, two-thirds said it was a bad decision for Emmanuel Macron to have dissolved parliament.

The president has been widely criticized for his surprise decision, which he took after his centrist alliance was trounced by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in European Parliament elections. The vote has left the lower house divided, with no political grouping holding a majority needed to pass legislation.

The leftist New Popular Front coalition secured the most lawmakers, though it still fell more than 100 short of an absolute majority in the 577-seat lower house. It has said it will put forward a single candidate for prime minister in the coming days.

Participants in the survey, carried out online on Tuesday and Wednesday, were split in half on whether Macron should appoint that person.

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