By Elizabeth Pineau and Ingrid Melander
PARIS (Reuters) - France's left-wing parties told Emmanuel Macron on Friday that they want to form the next government, as the French President kicked off consultations on who could be prime minister nearly seven weeks after inconclusive parliamentary elections.
Macron, who did not speak publicly after his meeting with the left, has so far ignored their demands, pointing out that despite coming first in the early July ballot, the left's New Popular Front alliance was far from an absolute majority.
"We told him that it was up to the political force that came out first (in the election) - the New Popular Front - to form a government," Lucie Castets, a little known 37-year-old senior civil servant chosen by the left as its candidate for prime minister, said after their meeting with Macron.
After weeks of vocal tensions between rival political camps, the left's leaders sounded slightly more upbeat, and said Macron recognised there was a need for change - though what that would entail still remains to be seen.
With Macron set to meet centrists and conservatives later on Friday, and the far right on Monday, the left's leaders said they hoped for a quick answer after that.
Whoever Macron names will face a tough job, with parliamentary approval of the 2025 budget one of many challenges at a time when France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit.
Who will become prime minister - and whether they can get a hung parliament to back any reforms - is still very much an open question, with no sign yet of any broader coalition that would have a stable majority.
Macron's gamble to call the snap parliamentary election backfired, with his centrist coalition losing dozens of seats in a ballot that delivered a hung parliament.
He has called for leaders to strike deals beyond party lines to form a government that would have a solid majority - and a source close to Macron said earlier this month he felt the balance of power was more with the centre or centre-right.
Macron has a history of coming up with unexpected prime ministers. The French Constitution says he is free to name who he wants - however they need to be able to survive no confidence votes from the opposition.
Some possible candidates include a conservative regional president, Xavier Bertrand and former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeveuve, sources have said. French media recently mentioned Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist mayor of an impoverished Paris suburb, as another possible name.