Macron breaks his silence on France's election earthquake as post-vote deadlock continues

French President Emmanuel Macron broke his silence on the political earthquake that took place in France last weekend, calling on mainstream parties to work together to form a coalition government.

In an open letter to regional newspapers on Wednesday, Macron said "no one won" the parliamentary election and called on mainstream parties with "republican values" to form a governing alliance.

"Let us place our hopes in the ability of our political leaders to demonstrate a sense of harmony and conciliation in your interest, and in the interest of the country," he wrote, according to a CNBC translation.

"It is in light of these principles that I will decide on the appointment of the prime minister."

France's left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front (NFP) clinched the most seats in the second round of voting last Sunday, beating the far-right National Rally which had won the first round.

With just 180 seats, the NFP fell short of achieving an absolute majority of 289 in the 577-seat National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament. Macron's centrist 'Together' bloc came second in the ballot with 163 seats, and RN and its allies won 143 seats.

France's hung-parliament scenario is not familiar territory, and parties on the left, center and right are now jockeying to form alliances and a viable coalition government.

That's not an easy task when the political blocs that fought the snap election are made up of a range of parties with a variety of ideological positions — for instance, the NFP includes the more radical anti-capitalist France Unbowed and French Communist Party to the more moderate and center-left Socialist Party and the Greens.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon — the leader of the largest party in the NFP, the far-left France Unbowed