ReutersFrench President Emmanuel Macron said he would not appoint a new government until after the Paris Olympics.
It comes after the New Popular Front (NFP), a left-wing coalition that became the largest party in the French parliament in recent elections, put forward Lucie Castets, a little-known civil servant, as its candidate for prime minister .
Responding to the proposal, Macron said making new appointments before mid-August would “create chaos”.
Left-wing politicians accused him of trying to “cancel the results of the legislative elections”.
The Games will kick off with an opening ceremony in central Paris on Friday and end on August 11.
Mr Macron accept resignation Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s centrist party suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections that ended earlier this month.
However, Mr Attal and his ministers agreed to remain in power as a caretaker government until a replacement is appointed.
Under the French system, the president traditionally appoints a prime minister who commands a majority in the National Assembly.
No party currently has a majority, but the NFP controls at least 182 of the 577 seats, putting it in the best position to nominate candidates.
On Tuesday, after weeks of negotiations and just an hour before Mr Macron’s television interview, the group recommended Ms Kastitz, citing her record of defending public services.
Ms. Castells, 37, is an economist and civil servant who currently serves as director of finance and procurement for the city of Paris, but has no background in party politics.
The choice is unusual because the prime minister is usually a sitting member of the National Assembly.
Writing in X, Ms. Kastez said she accepted the nomination “with great humility, but also with great conviction.”
But when asked about the NFP’s proposal in an interview with state public broadcaster France 2, Mr Macron said: “It’s not a question. The name is not a question. The question is: what majority can emerge at the conference?
“Of course we need to focus on the Olympics until mid-August.
“Until mid-August we can’t change things because it will cause chaos.”
He also said that no parliamentary group has won a majority in the election, and it is still uncertain which group will be able to appoint the prime minister.
He said he would seek to appoint a prime minister with “the broadest possible support”.
Macron’s comments sparked angry reactions from some NFP members.
Marina Tondellier, national secretary of the Ecologists Party, one of the group’s constituent parties, said Mr Macron “has to get out of denial”.
“We won, we have a plan, we have a prime minister,” she wrote on the X.
“Our voters now expect the social justice and environmental justice measures they demand to be implemented.
“The president cannot stop them like this.”
France Unbowed national coordinator Manuel Bompard accused him of trying to “cancel the results of the legislative elections”.
“This is an intolerable denial of democracy,” he said. “In France, when the people express their will, the president does not have veto power.”
