France's new lawmakers set to pick a speaker as political turmoil persists

France's influential lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, will elect its speaker on Thursday evening after a chaotic early election called by President Emmanuel Macron produced a hung legislature.

Two figures emerged as favorites after two nonconclusive rounds of vote: outgoing Speaker Yal Braun-Pivet of Macron's centrist party, and the candidate of the leftist coalition, communist lawmaker Andr Chassaigne.

The parliamentary election earlier this month resulted in a split between three major political blocs: the New Popular Front leftist coalition, Macron's centrist allies and the far-right National Rally party. None of them won an outright majority.

Thursday's opening session of the National Assembly comes two days after Macron accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and other ministers, but asked them to handle affairs in a caretaker capacity until a new government is appointed, as France prepares to host the Paris Olympics at the end of the ...