PARIS   -   France’s prime min­ister on Sat­urday was elected lead­er of his par­ty’s National Assembly lawmakers as politicians from all sides jockeyed for position to form the next government.

Gabriel Attal was the only candi­date in the vote by the Renaissance party parliamentary group, which he plans to use as the base from which to rebuild the political force that got roundly beaten in a snap election called by President Emmanuel Ma­cron. Of the 98 Renaissance deputies registered to vote, 84 backed Attal, who will start in his role next week. As Attal and other ministers eye a future outside government, deep cracks have appeared between the 35-year-old premier and his former mentor Macron.

Macron did not get any mention in Attal’s message to Renaissance deputies outlining his leadership bid, with observers saying that the prime minister blames the presi­dent for calling the vote, which he said took the party to the brink of “extinction”.

Sunday’s election runoff left the National Assembly without any over­all majority, but a broad alliance -- called New Popular Front (NFP) -- of Socialists, Communists, Greens and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) won the most seats, with 193 in the 577-strong lower chamber.

Macron’s allies came second with 164 seats and the far-right National Rally (RN) third at 143. Macron, who still has nearly three years in office, lashed out at Attal and oth­ers in a closed-door meeting Fri­day, saying his political friends had made a “disastrous spectacle” of themselves since the snap election.

Participants at the meeting -- at­tended notably by Attal, his rival Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and former prime minister Elisa­beth Borne -- told AFP that Macron had urged his allies to give priority “to the nation rather than to pre­mature ambition”. According to the constitution, Macron will appoint the next prime minister, who must be able to survive a confidence mo­tion in parliament.

This appointment could come as early as next week when the new National Assembly session opens, but Macron could ask Attal to stay on while Paris hosts the Olympic Games starting July 26. Such a de­cision would also give the NFP bloc more time to hammer out agree­ment on a consensus candidate to pitch to Macron.

The alliance’s members have been at loggerheads about a suitable front­runner. LFI firebrand Jean-Luc Me­lenchon is one of a handful of names debated within the bloc.

But the latest speculation is cen­tred on Huguette Bello, 73, a former communist MP and currently the president of the regional council in France’s overseas territory La Re­union, as a possible consensus can­didate. She has the backing of LFI, the communists and the Greens, while Socialists back their party boss Olivier Faure, a moderate.