France begins thorny negotiations over new prime minister after shock election

rfi:  Efforts begin on Monday to extract France from its most severe political uncertainty in decades after the left defeated the far right in parliamentary elections with no group winning an absolute majority.

The outcome of the legislative elections, called by Macron three years ahead of schedule, leaves France without any clear path to forming a new government less than three weeks before the Paris Olympics.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is due to submit his resignation on Monday but has also made clear he is ready to stay on in a caretaker capacity as weeks of political uncertainty loom.

The left is emerging as the biggest group in the new parliament but has yet to even agree on a figure who it would want to be the new prime minister.

The unprecedented situation is taking shape just as President Emmanuel Macron is due to be out of the country for most of the week, taking part in a NATO summit in Washington.

Surprise election win for left-green coalition plunges France into uncertainty

Early results from the second and final round of voting on Sunday showed the left won 182 seats, Macron's centrist alliance 168 and the far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies 143.