The Prime Minister of France says he would tender his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday after his party failed to win a majority in parliamentary elections.
Gabriel Attal however added that if his resignation is not accepted, he was ready to remain in office “as long as duty demands”.
This comes barely three weeks to the commencement of the Paris Olympics.
According to surprise projected results, an alliance of French left-wing parties was on its way to securing the highest parliamentary seats by defeating the far right and President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition.
No one group has secured an absolute majority in the presidential poll, plunging the country into political limbo with no clear path to forming a new government, an AFP report says.
Attal’s readiness to serve “as long as duty demands”, may be in light of the imminent Games commencing three weeks from now.
The New Popular Front (NFP) formed last month after Macron called snap elections brought together the previously deeply-divided Socialists, Greens, Communists and the hard-left France Unbowed together in one camp.
Nevertheless, veteran presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) led the race after the June 30 first round of voting, with opinion polls predicting that she would lead the biggest party in parliament after Sunday’s run-off.
But projections based on vote samples by four major polling agencies on Sunday showed no group on course for an absolute majority and the left-wing NFP ahead of both Macron’s centrist Ensemble and Le Pen’s eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN.
Macron, who has yet to speak in public about the projections, is calling for “prudence and analysis of the results”, said an aide, asking not to be named.
Le Pen, for her part, declared: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, consequently, our victory has only been delayed.”
