French President Emmanuel Macron reappoints Edouard Philippe as PM

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday re-appointed Edouard Philippe as prime minister after the weekend's legislative run-off vote and asked him to form the next government, sources at Macron's office said.

Yesterday's vote saw Macron's centrist group, the Republic on the Move (REM), secure a massive victory in the National Assembly, giving him a mandate to pursue a pro-EU, business-friendly agenda.

Philippe has been asked to unveil the new government by Wednesday 1600 GMT, the sources said. Macron, 39, became France's youngest president in May after a tumultuous campaign in which the main stream left and conservative parties lost ground and the far-right National Front failed to make a much-touted break through.

Macron's election was followed, as scheduled, by legislative elections. REM and its centrist ally MoDem won 350 seats in the 577-seat assembly.

The conservative opposition, the Republicans,won a total of 130 seats with their allies. The Socialist Party party of Macron's predecessor, Francois Hollande, lost more than 250 seats, obtaining just 30.