By Nur Asena Erturk
France’s left-wing alliance decided Tuesday on a name to propose as the new prime minister following snap parliamentary elections.
The New Popular Front (NFP), which is expected to get the most seats in the National Assembly according to recent election results, decided to propose Lucie Castets, an economist and senior civil servant working for the Paris city government, for the position, according to an official statement.
The alliance praised Castets’ expertise in fighting tax evasion and financial crime and her stance against President Emmanuel Macron’s much-contested pension reform which raised the retirement age to 64 in 2023 despite months of mass protests.
The NFP struggled for weeks to come up with a solid name to propose to Macron as prime minister, resulting in severe divisions within the left-wing bloc after the second round of snap legislative polls on July 7.
Despite the effort, Macron said in an interview late Tuesday that a new government would not be formed until mid-August, as the country would be preoccupied with the Olympics.
Macron last week accepted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation following the election results, after initially rejecting it on July 8.
Attal will continue dealing with the government’s affairs until a new government is formed.
Political parties harshly criticized Macron for initially rejecting Attal's resignation, delaying the process and causing instability in the country.
The NFP could win more than 180 seats in the lower chamber of the parliament. The centrist alliance Together for the Republic, which is backed by Macron, finished second with more than 160 seats, while Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party got over 140 seats.
The National Assembly has 577 seats, and none of the three primary alliances was able to win an absolute majority of 289 lawmakers.
Macron dissolved parliament and announced early elections after the RN won more than 31% of the vote in European Parliament elections on June 9, defeating his centrist bloc.