Political Stalemate in France: Difficult Months Ahead

French voters rejected the far right in Sunday's parliamentary elections, but the country now faces a divided parliament without a clear path to a functional government. An emerging leftist alliance leads the field but is far from taking power. Forming a viable government will require arduous negotiations, as my colleague Roger Cohen reports. France has no tradition of compromise, and the political chaos could drag on for months. President Emmanuel Macron yesterday asked his Prime Minister to remain in office for the time being to ensure the country's stability. The leftist alliance, the New People's Front, has demanded that Macron grant it the mandate to form a government. The alliance plans to soon present its candidate for Prime Minister. However, it is short by 100 seats for an absolute majority, and the combative leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared that he would neither negotiate with potential coalition partners nor adjust the alliance's program. Possible scenarios include: Macron could appoint a Prime Minister from outside his party and seek power-sharing, but he has labeled the far-left and far-right parties as too 'extreme.' Other political groups show little willingness to cooperate with him. What happens next remains to be seen.