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After his party’s defeat in the July elections, Macron must decide who to nominate for prime minister.

French President Emmanuel Macron has met with far-right politician Marine Le Pen amid pressure to pick a new prime minister after the failure of any party to emerge with a parliamentary majority in July’s elections.

Since Friday, Macron has invited party leaders to talks in the hopes of finding a consensus candidate who would not immediately be ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Gabriel Attal, who was only made prime minister in January, is currently the caretaker leader until a candidate is chosen.

During last month’s parliamentary elections, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition won the most seats at 190, Macron’s Renaissance party came second at 160 and Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party came third, winning 140 seats.

That followed a concerted effort by the NFP and Macron’s centrists to stop the National Rally from coming out on top.

But all of the parties are far from the 289-seat majority needed to rule without forming a coalition.

The NFP argued that since it won the most seats, it should pick the new prime minister. It has chosen Lucie Castets, 37, as its candidate.

However, Macron’s party, along with the conservatives and the far right, have promised to vote no confidence in a left-wing government.

That led to the Socialist Party chief, Olivier Faure, saying it did not want to “participate in a show where the dice are loaded” against the left.

Suggesting a possible compromise, the leader of France Unbowed (LFI), part of the NFP, Jean-Luc Melenchon, announced on Saturday that his party would support a left-wing government run by Castets but without any LFI ministers.

Macron has previously called the LFI an “extreme movement” in an attempt to equate the far-left group with the far-right National Rally.

French news outlet Le Monde wrote that after Melenchon’s offer, Macron would now find it harder to justify why he was ruling out the NFP.

However, with the deadline to present a draft 2025 budget a little more than a month away, Macron, who has stalled in choosing a candidate, must now decide on who to nominate.