“Deadlock” is the most likely outcome of the elections, with no “quick solution” likely in the coming days, according to economist and international law professor Armin Steinbach of HEC Paris business school. He says: France has no political culture of making coalitions and compromises, like Germany or Italy. That is why it feels like a crisis for the French. He suggests two main scenarios, first a minority government led by the left-wing, leading to a “cohabitation”, in which the president and prime minister come from rival camps. He suggests the NFP could propose a moderate left-wing candidate such as the rather unpopular former president François Hollande. Steinbach continues: Much depends on whether the NFP will stay united and not break up into old conflicts. A second scenario could see Macron’s centrist alliance and the Republicans form a coalition minority government. This would be very unpopular and may trigger protests because he [Macron] clearly lost the election. On the president, Steinbach adds: With his self-confidence he will probably stay on as president until 2027. In other countries, the head of state would resign after such a defeat. With this defeat, he lacks the legitimacy to appoint a new government. Share This is what we"re up against Teams of lawyers from the rich and powerful trying to stop us publishing stories they don’t want you to see. Lobby groups with opaque funding who are determined to undermine facts about the climate emergency and other established science. Authoritarian states with no regard for the freedom of the press. Bad actors spreading disinformation online to undermine democracy. *** But we have something powerful on our side. We’ve got you. The Guardian is funded by readers, like you in Egypt, and the only person who decides what we publish is our editor. If you want to join us in our mission to share independent, global journalism to the world, we’d love to have you on side. Please choose to support us today. It only takes a minute and you can cancel at any time. Thank you.