Macron rejects left bid to name PM before Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will not name a new government until after the end of the Paris Olympics.

He rejected an attempt by a left-wing coalition to put forward a little-known civil servant, Lucie Castets, as its candidate for prime minister. The New Popular Front won most seats in this month's parliamentary elections, but nowhere near enough to form a majority.

"Until mid-August, we're in no position to change things, because it would create disorder," said President Macron ahead of Friday's opening ceremony in the centre of Paris.

Ms Castets called on him to assume his responsibilities and nominate her.

Left-wing politicians accused him of trying to "cancel the result of the legislative elections".

Mr Macron's centrist alliance suffered heavy losses in the elections, but he asked Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his ministers to stay on in the form of a caretaker government until replacements could be appointed.

Tuesday night's interview on French TV and radio was his first since that election defeat.

Under the French system, the president traditionally appoints a prime minister who is able to command a majority in the National Assembly.

No party now has a majority, but the four-party NFP controls at least 182 of 577 seats, putting it in the strongest position to propose a candidate, ahead of Mr Macron's Ensemble and the far-right National Rally.

An hour before Mr Macron was due to appear on TV, the left put forward Ms Castets as its unified candidate, citing her record of work to defend public services.

Ms Castets is a 37-year-old economist and civil servant who currently works as director of finance and purchasing for the City of Paris, but has no background in party politics. France's prime ministers are usually serving members of the National Assembly.

The decision to name her shortly before the president's TV appearance was being seen as an attempt to surprise Mr Macron and exert political pressure on him.

Writing on X, Ms Castets said it was "with great humility but also great conviction" that she accepted the nomination.

But asked about the NFP's proposal during an interview with national public broadcaster France 2, Mr Macron said: "This is not the issue. The name is not the issue. The issue is: Which majority can emerge at the assembly?"

He also said no parliamentary group had emerged from the elections with a majority and that it was not yet certain which one would be in a position to appoint a prime minister.

He said he would seek to appoint a prime minister with the "broadest backing possible".

Mr Macron's comments sparked an angry reaction from some members of the NFP.

Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the Ecologists, one of the constituent parties of the group, said Mr Macron "must come out of denial".

“We won, we have a programme, we have a prime minister,” she wrote on X.

“Our voters now expect the social justice and environmental justice measures they asked for to be put into practice.

“The president can’t block them like this.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the abrasive radical-left leader of France Unbowed, accused him of refusing to accept the election result and of seeking to impose a mainstream Republican front.

"This is out of the question. Respect the vote of the French people. He must either accept it or resign!"

The other two members of the alliance, the Communists and Socialists, were equally incensed. Socialist leader Olivier Faure said that while no bloc had an absolute majority, Mr Macron should respect the tradition of the republic and appoint Lucie Castets as prime minister.

In her first public appearance on French radio on Wednesday, Ms Castets was asked about her record since 2023 as head of financial affairs in Paris, a city whose debts are forecast to soar to €9bn (£7.5bn) by 2026.

"The debt of the city of Paris has nothing in common with the debt of the French state," she insisted. "I'm proud to have taken part in financing very long-term projects that will improve people's lives, the lives of Parisians, especially when it comes to ecology."

National Rally MP Sébastien Chenu said the left's decision to choose her was a joke in poor taste. He said her slogan would be: "I ruined Paris, now I can do the same to France."