Paris: France's Socialist government has officially resigned, in keeping with tradition after legislative elections.
President Francois Hollande's office said on Monday that he immediately re-appointed Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and asked him to form a new government which was expected to be nearly identical to the outgoing Cabinet.
The procedural step came as the Socialists vaulted to dominance in the 577-seat National Assembly in yesterday's elections for the National Assembly. It gives Hollande who was elected last month the legislative free hand he needs to push forward with his leftist reform program.
Conservative allies of former President Nicolas Sarkozy were the election's biggest losers. The anti-immigration National Front won two seats its best showing in the Assembly since the late 1980s though its leader Marine Le Pen narrowly lost her bid to win a swept.
PTI
First Published: Monday, June 18, 2012, 17:40