French President Emmanuel Macron has called snap national elections after a right-wing surge in EU polls took almost double the vote of his Renaissance party.
In an address to the nation, Mr Macon announced he was dissolving Parliament and that the first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on 30 June, with the second round on 7 July.
France: French President Emmanuel Macron (RE-RE) states that he will dissolve the national parliament for snap elections. This decision follows the poor result from the Bd'E list his party was leading in the European Parliament election, which only received 15.2% of the votes per…
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) June 9, 2024
The outcome of the EU elections, he acknowledged, is “not a good result for parties who defend Europe”.
Mr Macron said that: “Far right parties … are progressing everywhere in the continent.”
“It is a situation to which I cannot resign myself.
“I decided to give you the choice… Therefore I will dissolve the National Assembly tonight.”
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which is anti-immigration and nationalist, is estimated to get around 31-32% of the votes, a historic result more than double the share of Macron’s Renaissance party, which is projected to reach around 15%, the Independent reported.
Euro News reported that: “The National Rally party gained 31.5% of support in France according to exit polls on Sunday, becoming the first French party to receive more than 30% of votes in European elections since 1984.”
Macron’s Renaissance party, led by Valerie Hayer, received 15.2% of the votes — not even half of National Rally’s support — a decline from the 22% it received in the 2019 elections. National Rally, on the other hand, saw an eight-point increase in support from the 23% it received five years ago.
En plaçant la liste du Rassemblement National à un niveau historique, le peuple français a envoyé un message très clair à un pouvoir macroniste, qui scrutin après scrutin, se désagrège : il ne veut plus d’une construction européenne technocratique, hors-sol et de plus en plus…
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) June 9, 2024
Ms Le Pen welcomed the call for a snap election and described the election result as “historic”.
“We are ready to take over the power if the French give ustheir trust in the upcoming national elections,” she said during a rally.