France’s centrist government was desperately trying to avoid political paralysis after it lost its majority in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has spoken of an unprecedented situation and commentators have warned of France becoming ungovernable.
President Emmanuel Macron’s team now faced two powerful opposition groups.
And neither Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-green alliance nor Marine Le Pen’s far right were keen to work with him.
Mr Macron will also have to replace three ministers who lost their seats in Sunday’s vote, and the prime minister’s future looked increasingly under threat.
The president’s allies came out in force after Sunday’s election setback, widely described by commentators as a slap in the face from voters. The aim was to find a “working majority”, either a coalition or by forging alliances with other Members of Parliament (MPs) on a case-by-case basis.
“We are going to form a majority very quickly so it becomes absolute in the National Assembly,” promised Olivier Véran, the minister in charge of parliamentary relations. Government spokeswoman, Olivia Grégoire, extended a hand to “all those who want us to move the country forward”.
Minority governments were a rarity in France, and even when there was one in 1988 under President François Mitterrand, he was only 11 seats short of an outright majority. The ruling Ensemble alliance was 44 seats short of the working majority, so it will need to find support from mainstream MPs from both the left and right.
Mr Véran believed the government will be able to attract support from other political groups to get important reforms passed, particularly when it comes to the cost of living: “I can’t for a second imagine that a majority cannot emerge in the coming weeks on the spending power law”.
President Macron has laid out a series of plans to tackle the spiralling cost of living, including food vouchers and enhanced benefits. Another big reform was gradually raising the retirement age from 62-65, which had proven unpopular among the electorates.
Public Service Minister, Stanislas Guerini, said there should be talks with the Republicans on the mainstream right but also with anyone else “who sees an interest in moving forward with reforms that are good for the country”. -BBC
