French lawmakers have re-elected a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc as president of parliament’s lower house, a possible breakthrough in attempts to form a majority amid deadlock.
French politics have been in gridlock after a snap election this month left the country without any clear path to forming a new government as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games.
Lawmakers elected the president as parliament’s lower house, the national assembly, met for the first time since the elections.
With 220 votes in the third round, Yaël Braun-Pivet, 53, in a surprise move beat leftwing candidate André Chassaigne, who received 207 votes.
Seats in the 577-strong assembly are now divided between three similarly sized blocs.