‘A Real Shipwreck’: Things Just Went From Bad To Worse For Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday following a chaotic series of elections that resulted in Macron’s party losing power.

Macron’s party lost in France’s legislative elections on July 7, which resulted in a fragmented parliament and no clear path forward as to whose party would run the country. Because Macron’s party is no longer in power, his ability to wield power and influence legislation was significantly weakened — and those abilities became even weaker following the resignation on Tuesday of his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, according to Politico EU.

Attal offered to step down from his role following his and Macron’s party’s loss in the legislative elections on July 7, but Macron refused to accept it until Tuesday, alongside resignations from other cabinet members, according to Politico EU. Attal’s resignation means that his government will act in a mostly transitional regard “to handle current affairs until a new government is being appointed,” according to a statement from Macron’s office.

Macron’s office also called on “all Republican forces” to come to a determination on what the new government would look like so that the transitional period could end “as soon as possible,” according to Politico EU.

Typically, the president — in this case, Macron — has the power to select his own prime minister and cabinet, according to Politico EU. But because no party took an absolute majority in the elections, there’s no clear picture of who is set to lead or govern.

Such a transitional period has never lasted more than nine days in France, according to Politico EU. Given the unique nature of the situation, however, it is unclear how long the process will take.

The New Popular Front, a leftist coalition of parties, collectively took the most votes at 174 seats secured, but not enough to seize the absolute majority. The National Rally Party and Macron’s own party, the centrist-liberal Renaissance Party, both trailed behind at 141 seats and 145 seats, respectively.