The Socialist Party announced the failure of talks regarding the appointment of a left-wing figure to head the government following the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu. Meanwhile, far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen threatened today (Wednesday) to topple any prime minister appointed by President Emmanuel Macron unless new elections are called.

Le Pen claimed in a press conference that “every new government is a means to circumvent the will of the people,” accusing other parties of fearing a return to the polls for fear of losing their seats, while the National Rally might emerge stronger from this process, according to Politico magazine. These statements come as the resigned Prime Minister Lecornu seeks a way out of the political crisis triggered by his resignation last Monday.

The National Rally, along with other political parties that believe they can seize a majority of the currently suspended National Assembly seats, wants the French president to call early parliamentary elections.

The crisis in France has worsened since the decision to dissolve parliament last year and the fall of two successive prime ministers: François Bayrou last month and Sébastien Lecornu last Monday. Politico reported that Macron is considering appointing a left-wing prime minister to overcome the deadlock, noting that the Socialist Party is the leading candidate to head a minority government that will need at least implicit support from other left-wing and centrist parties close to the French president.

The Socialist Party has conditioned its participation in any settlement on Macron’s willingness to suspend the controversial 2023 pension reform, which raised the minimum retirement age to 64 and is being implemented gradually. Suspending it would keep the minimum age at 63.

Earlier today, after leaving high-level talks, the Socialist Party announced no agreement had been reached on appointing a left-wing figure as prime minister. Socialist leader Olivier Faure said his party had received “no guarantees” from the resigned prime minister regarding Macron’s readiness to suspend the pension reform, noting that Lecornu “only took notes.”

Macron had given his resigned prime minister a deadline until Wednesday evening to reach a settlement with opposition parties on the upcoming budget and find a way out of the crisis following Lecornu’s resignation and government collapse.

However, Lecornu appeared optimistic about the negotiations, saying today that the likelihood of early elections in the coming weeks “has begun to decline,” explaining that he has “good news” related to “the desire to reach an agreement on France’s budget before December 31.”