French political leaders from the Left-wing bloc that came first in Sunday’s legislative election said they intended to govern according to their high-spending programme, but Centrists said they should play a role as the Left lacked a majority.

The unexpected outcome of the snap election has plunged France into uncertainty just before the Paris Olympics, with no obvious path to a stable government capable of getting any legislation passed by a fragmented parliament.

The Left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats in the National Assembly but fell short of an absolute majority by about 100 seats. President Emmanuel Macron’s Centrists came second and the far-Right National Rally third.

NFP leaders have met behind closed doors several times since the shock result came out on Sunday night, attempting to thrash out an agreement on which of them should be Prime Minister and how they should approach governing without a majority.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the hard-Left France Unbowed, said an NFP government should fully implement its programme, which includes raising the minimum wage, lowering the retirement age and capping the prices of fuel, power and food staples.

The policy programme “cannot be sliced into pieces”, he said on TF1 television late on Monday, rejecting the idea of a coalition with parties from outside the NFP.

“This country is suffering from the lies of its leaders who promise certain things and deliver others,” said Melenchon, arguing that this was a reason why the NFP should stay true to its stated principles.

However, Centrists pointed out that the NFP was too far short of a majority to govern without support from their own parliamentary bloc. They implied that the NFP should break up so that its more moderate elements could form a broader coalition of Centre-Left, Ecologist, Centrist and Centre-Right parties.

“The Centrist bloc is prepared to negotiate with all parties that share our republican values,” said foreign minister Stephane Sejourne.