Macron hosts opposition for post-election talks

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron was holding talks Tuesday with France’s main party leaders after his centrist alliance failed to win an absolute majority in parliamentary elections.

The meetings at the Elysee presidential palace come after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne formally offered her resignation Tuesday, in line with the tradition after parliamentary elections. Macron immediately rejected the offer and maintained the current government.

Macron’s Together! alliance won 245 seats in

Sunday’s parliamentary elections — but fell 44 seats short of a majority in the National Assembly, France’s most powerful house of parliament.

The leftist Nupes coalition won 131 seats to become the main opposition force. The far-right National Rally got 89 seats in the 577-member chamber, up from its previous eight.

Macron was to hold successive meetings with opposition members, including the president of The Republicans, Christian Jacob, the head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Macron was also to meet with representatives of his own party and allied movements.

Talks were aiming at finding “potential constructive solutions” to the situation, according to Macron’s office.

With the most seats at the National Assembly, his government still has the ability to rule, but only by bargaining with legislators. To prevent potential deadlock, Macron’s party and allies may try to negotiate on a case-by-case basis with lawmakers from the center-left and from the conservative party.