With no political certainty and a threat of more street protests, the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen urged President Emmanuel Macron to hold a referendum on key issues such as immigration. Le Pen suggested that by giving the French a direct vote might help break the current political deadlock.
A few days ago Macron appointed the centre-right Michel Barnier, a 73-year-old former foreign minister who acted as the European Union's Brexit negotiator, as prime minister, seeking to move forward after June-July snap elections that resulted in a hung parliament.
But analysts say the country is set for a period of instability, with Barnier's hold on power seen as fragile and dependent on support from Le Pen's eurosceptic, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party, which is the largest party in the new National Assembly.
A left-wing coalition, which emerged as France's largest political bloc after the elections, although short of an overall majority, is also piling pressure on Barnier.
More than 100,000 left-wing demonstrators rallied across France on Saturday to protest against his nomination and denounce Macron's "power grab".
Le Pen, who leads RN lawmakers in parliament, has said her party would not be part of the new cabinet.
Last 8 September, she urged Macron to conduct a referendum on key issues such as immigration, health care and security to give the people a direct vote.
The RN "will unreservedly support any approach aimed at giving people the power to decide directly", Le Pen said, speaking in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, the far-right's traditional stronghold.
"Emmanuel Macron himself, in the chaos he has created, has levers to keep our democracy live," she added.