Sharjah24 - AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday held talks with opposition leaders on ending the deadlock sparked by his failure to secure a majority in parliamentary elections, after rejecting an offer by the prime minister to resign.
Macron met right-wing, Socialist and Communist party chiefs at the Elysee, including rare talks with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as he seeks solutions to a tricky situation that risks plunging his second term into crisis two months after it began.
The spectre of political paralysis and the breakthrough performance by the far-right under Le Pen has also raised questions over Macron's leadership in Europe as he seeks to keep a prime role in dealing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Elysee said French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, blamed by some analysts for heading a lacklustre campaign, had offered her resignation to Macron but the head of state turned it down.
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.
Macron started Tuesday's flurry of discussions by talking with Christian Jacob, head of the traditional right-wing the Republicans (LR), a party on the decline in recent months but which now may be courted by the president to give him a majority.
For an optimal experience, please
