France in turmoil as it prepares to 'host the world' for Olympics

PARIS: France was plunged into political turmoil on Monday three weeks before hosting the Olympics, while a call for strikes at Paris airports added fresh uncertainty to the already tense build-up.

The run-up to the world's biggest sporting event is usually fraught for host nations, but French President Emmanuel Macron added unexpected complexity last month by calling snap parliamentary elections.

A second round of voting for the National Assembly on Sunday delivered a hung parliament, making it hard to know who will be in key government positions when the Games open on Jul 26.

"Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is getting ready to host the world in a few weeks," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stressed on Sunday evening as he offered his resignation.

Macron has asked the ambitious 35-year-old to remain at his post "for the time being to ensure the stability of the country", a statement from the presidency said.

It is unclear whether the head of state will seek to keep a caretaker government in place until the Paris Games close on Aug 11, but a left-wing alliance that topped Sunday's vote is already pushing to name a candidate to replace Attal.

The fate of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has overseen security preparations for the Games, is also in the balance.

"What organisers worry about the most are things like delinquency and crime, and of course, terrorism, as well as traffic conditions," Paul Dietschy, a history and sports professor at the Universite of Franche-Comte in France, told AFP.

"The interior minister is the most important position."

Darmanin said last week that if the far-right National Rally or hard-left France Unbowed party formed a government, he would resign immediately.

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