PARIS, Aug 26 (AFP): French President Emmanuel Macron hosted far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen for rare talks Monday, as pressure mounts for him to finally name a prime minister after July's inconclusive parliamentary poll.
The three-time National Rally (RN) presidential candidate called after the meeting for an extraordinary session of parliament so MPs would be able to immediately depose any new government in a confidence vote.
"I don't want a prime minister to have a month to implement by decree a toxic policy that would be dangerous for the French people," Le Pen said.
Snap elections called by centrist Macron failed last month to extricate France from the hung-parliament deadlock that had seen his camp run a minority government since 2022.
Instead, the National Assembly (lower house) is largely divided among three blocs: the New Popular Front (NFP) alliance of left-wing parties with over 190 seats, followed by the president's supporters at around 160 and the far-right National Rally on 140.
None is close to a majority of 289 in the 577-seat chamber.
Since the second-round polls closed on July 7, the left has pushed for Macron to name one of their own as prime minister, saying the position falls to them as the largest power.
They have named largely unknown 37-year-old economist and civil servant Lucie Castets as their prospective candidate for head of government.
Macron has for his part delayed installing a new PM, leaving a caretaker government in place for an unprecedented period as he seeks a figure with broad support who would not immediately be toppled in a confidence vote.
"The president's weakness is that since the night of the second round, he hasn't been able to change the game or get anything moving... he is dependent on others' goodwill to fix his own mistakes," wrote commentator Guillaume Tabard in conservative daily Le Figaro.
The pressure is now on, with the deadline to present a draft 2025 budget for the heavily-indebted government looming just over a month away.
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