French prime minister Élisabeth Borne offered her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the ruling party losing its majority in elections, but the head of state turned it down, the presidency said on Tuesday, reports FRANCE 24.
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, who asked not to be named.
Macron’s discussions with opposition leaders will start on Tuesday with Christian Jacob, head of the traditional conservative Les Républicains (LR) party that has been in decline in recent months but could be courted to give Macron a parliamentary majority.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure and Communist Party boss Fabien Roussel, members of the NUPES (New Ecological and Social Political Union) left-wing alliance, will also meet Macron, although the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads NUPES, is not scheduled to do so.
In a rare encounter, Macron will also host Marine Le Pen – his presidential election rival and leader of the far-right Rassemblement National ("National Rally").