President Emmanuel Macron faced an uphill battle to start fresh talks on a new government in France after left-wing political forces refused to participate and he rejected their candidate for prime minister.
More than seven weeks after inconclusive parliamentary elections that cost his allies a relative majority, Macron has yet to name a new prime minister to take over from the current caretaker administration.
The left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NPF) - which emerged as the largest bloc in the vote - demanded that the president choose their candidate, Lucie Castes, a 37-year-old economist who belongs to the hard-left Inflexible France (NFI) party.
But Macron later ruled out appointing a left-wing government, saying it would be a "threat to institutional stability".
Instead, he urged "all political leaders to stand up by demonstrating a spirit of responsibility."
Macron's office said it would be pointless to appoint an NNF government as it would immediately be rejected by a vote of no confidence in parliament.
The president called on the socialists, environmentalists and communists in the left alliance to "cooperate with other political forces" in an apparent attempt to separate the more moderate members of the coalition from the NFI.
Socialist Party chief Oliver Faure rejected Macron's invitation for new talks, saying he "will not be complicit in a travesty of democracy".
Socialist MPs would support a no-confidence vote against any government not proposed by the NNF, he said, accusing the president of seeking to "prolong Macronism" despite losing the National Assembly election.
"The French people will start to get irritated, to put it mildly," Faure warned, and said he would take part in street protests after Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel - who has also rejected new talks with Macron - called for a "big popular mobilisation".
"The left has been robbed in this election," said Green Party leader Marin Tondelier.
"We're not going to be part of this mess anymore," she said.
Castes accused Macron of trying to be "president, prime minister and party leader at the same time", but she said this was not "respectful to the French electorate or to democracy".
The far-right National Assembly was not invited to the talks. | BGNES
