09/06/2024 – 17:03
The decision is a reaction to the victory of the ultra-right and the fiasco of his own party in the European elections. Vote does not affect Macron’s stay in office; he remains president until 2027. After seeing his centrist alliance defeated by the ultra-right party National Regroupment (RN) in the elections to the European Parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron announced this Sunday (09/06) the dissolution of the National Assembly and the call for elections anticipated.
According to exit polls, the RN obtained 31.5% of the votes, more than double Macron’s pro-European Union coalition, with 15.2% of the votes, and a considerable increase in relation to the 23.3 % of 2019. There is still no data on how many French voters went to the polls this Sunday.
Currently, Macron does not have a majority in the National Assembly and, therefore, has struggled to approve projects of interest to his government – in semi-presidential France, the president depends on a prime minister appointed by Parliament to ensure governability.
The new elections are scheduled for June 30th and July 7th. The vote does not affect Macron’s tenure in office. He remains president until 2027.
It is the first time since 1997 that a president has dissolved the National Assembly in France – the last time was under the right-wing government of Jacques Chirac. At that time, however, it was the left that emerged victorious, forcing Chirac to govern with rivals until the end of his term.
What Macron said
“I decided to return the choice of our future parliamentarian to you through voting. Therefore, I am dissolving the National Assembly,” Macron said in an address to the nation.
Macron said that the result of the elections for the European Parliament “was not a good result for the parties that defend Europe”.
“Ultra-right parties (…) are making progress across the continent. It’s a situation I cannot resign myself to,” she said. “I heard your message, your concerns, and I will not leave them unanswered.”
“The decision is serious and difficult, but it is, above all, an act of trust – trust in you, my dear compatriots,” he said, emphasizing that he cannot “pretend that nothing happened.”
Macron encouraged citizens to “vote massively” in the election, saying “France needs a clear majority.”
National Regrouping celebrates result
The leader of the National Regroupment, Marine Le Pen, welcomed Macron’s gesture.
“We are ready to take power if the French give us their trust in the next national elections,” he said.
“Emmanuel Macron is a weakened president, already deprived of an absolute majority in the French parliament and now limited in his means of action within the European Parliament,” said Jordan Bardella, RN’s main candidate for the European Parliament elections.
ra (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)
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