Macron kicks off tense talks on new French government

French President Emmanuel Macron began a round of thorny consultations with political leaders on Friday, hoping to cobble together a viable ruling coalition after last month's inconclusive election.

A full six weeks after a snap election resulted in a hung parliament in which Macron's camp lost its status as the largest grouping, he has still not named a new prime minister.

The next premier's first major task will be to submit next year's budget plan to the National Assembly.

The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) -- which emerged from the election as the largest bloc but well short of a majority -- has said it wants the 37-year-old economist Lucie Castets to be the new head of government.

But Macron's forces have shown little interest in the idea, preferring a potential alliance with the traditional right.

"We have come here to remind the president how important it is to respect the election result and to pull the country out of paralysis," Castets said as she arrived at the Elysee Palace on Friday, accompanied by other NFP representatives.

She and her allies were willing to find a "compromise, given that nobody has the absolute majority" and would work towards "stability", Castets said.

But ahead of the meeting with Macron, Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party -- the largest single party in the NFP -- had warned: "We're not going to negotiate with him".

Instead, he announced, "we'll tell him that there is no alternative to Lucie Castets's appointment."

- 'Message of change' -

Allies of Macron have argued the leftist bloc is too weak to claim the prime minister's post, and are hoping instead to form a majority around a centrist figure.

As she left the Elysee, Castets told reporters that while Macron was "lucid" about voters' "wish to change political direction" she had nevertheless detected "a temptation for the president to build his own government".

Macron later told members of his own camp at a lunch that voters had sent a "message of change" but not a "complete disavowal" of his leadership, according to people in the room.

He added that he was looking for an "institutionally stable" government able to survive a no-confidence vote in parliament, the people added.

Castets had earlier said she was "ready to build coalitions, starting today", and to talk with the other political groups.

But the traditional conservative Republicans party vowed Friday that it would vote to bring down any government including LFI.

The far-right National Rally (RN) party had already indicated it would do the same.

Francois Bayrou, head of the centrist MoDem group, told AFP a government with LFI ministers was "impossible" for "the immense majority of parliamentarians who have expressed their opinion".

"It's a fact that the president acknowledges the legitimacy" of the left, a source close to Macron told AFP.

"They've been elected. He invited them first. The question is about their capability" to produce a government that would not immediately be toppled, the person added.

- October deadline -

The current period is the longest France has ever been without a head of government following a legislative election, after Macron said he would not prioritise the task of finding one during the Paris Olympics, which ended on August 11.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has been running a caretaker government.

Opposition figures have sharply criticised Macron for taking so much time, with Green Party senator Yannick Jadot calling the president's stance "a denial of democracy".

Even some of Macron's own allies have become impatient.

An official in his office insisted Thursday that "the president is on the side of the French people, the guarantor of the institutions".

The Elysee talks -- scheduled for Friday and Monday -- include representatives from across the political spectrum.

Macron is due to hold further talks with the RN as well as the leaders of the Senate and National Assembly next week.

Macron's office did not give an indication of when the president might make his choice for prime minister, but observers expect him to do so sometime next week.

Whoever is appointed must be able to survive a confidence motion in parliament and present a 2025 budget draft law to parliament by October 1, the legal deadline.