Macron rejects PM’s resignation in wake of election losses

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne offered her resignation to Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the ruling party losing its majority.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne with President Emmanuel Macron in Suresnes near Paris. Picture: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected a resignation offer from his Prime Minister ahead of talks with the opposition seeking to end the deadlock sparked by his failure to secure a majority in parliamentary elections.

Mr Macron was due to host far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other political party chiefs for rare talks at the Elysee Palace as he seeks solutions to an unprecedented situation that risks plunging his second term into crisis two months after it began.

The Elysee said French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, blamed by some analysts for heading a lacklustre campaign, had offered her resignation to Mr Macron but the head of state turned it down.

Mr Macron believes the government needs to “stay on task and act” and the President will now seek “constructive solutions” to the political deadlock in talks with opposition parties, said a presidential official.

Mr Macron was due to start a series of discussions by talking with Christian Jacob, the head of the traditional right-wing ­Republicans, a party on the decline in recent months but which now may be courted by the President to give him a ­majority.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure and Communist Party boss Fabien Roussel – members of the NUPES left-wing alliance – will also meet Mr Macron, ­although the hard-left leader Jean-Luc ­Melenchon was not scheduled to do so.­

And in a rare encounter, Mr Macron was to host Ms Le Pen, his rival in presidential elections and leader of the far-right ­National Rally. The aim was to “build solutions to serve the French” at a time when there was no “alternative majority” to that of Mr Macron’s ruling alliance, said the Elysee.

While Mr Macron’s Ensemble (Together) coalition remains the largest party after Sunday’s National Assembly elections, it fell dozens of seats short of keeping the absolute majority it has enjoyed for the past five years.

Mr Melenchon and Ms Le Pen made big gains, leaving them as major players in the new parliament.

Mr Macron’s alliance won 244 seats, well short of the 289 needed for an overall majority, in a low-turnout vote that ­resulted in an abstention rate of 53.77 per cent.

The election saw NUPES ­become the main opposition force along with its allies on 137 seats, according to interior ministry figures.

But it appears unlikely the ­coalition of Socialists, Communists, Greens and the hard-left France Unbowed will be able to retain common cause in the legislature.

Mr Melenchon, the France Unbowed chief who orchestrated the alliance, called its results “fairly disappointing” and proposed to make NUPES a permanent left-wing bloc.

The far right under Ms Le Pen posted the best legislative performance in its history, becoming the strongest single opposition party with 89 seats, up from eight in the outgoing chamber.

AFP