Macron announces early legislative elections

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday dissolved the lower house of the French Parliament, or National Assembly, and called early elections after the far-right National Rally (RN) inflicted a heavy defeat on his camp in the European elections, reports News.Az citing Anadolu Agency.

The first round of legislative elections will take place on June 30 and the second on July 7, Macron said in a speech broadcast after the far-right National Rally party won 32% of the vote in the European elections.

“This is not a good result for the parties that defend Europe, including the presidential majority (in France),” Macron said.

The president criticized far-right parties for opposing progress in Europe in recent years, including “economic recovery, common protection of our borders, support for farmers, support for Ukraine.”

“These parties are making progress all over the continent. In France, their representative reaches almost 40% of the votes cast,” Macron said.

“The rise of nationalists and demagogues is dangerous not only for our nation but also for Europe,” he added.

Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, is well ahead of Valérie Hayer, of the Renaissance party, supported by the government and President Emmanuel Macron.

Hayer received 15.2% of the vote and his party placed second, according to poll estimates collected by Elabe.

Earlier, the National Rally called on the president to dissolve parliament, with Bardella calling the preliminary results “an unprecedented defeat for the current government.”

The center-left list of Raphaël Glucksmann would currently occupy third place with 14%, and the left-wing party La France Insoumise with Manon Aubry would be fourth with 9.3% according to estimates.

The participation rate was around 45.26% in France at 5:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT), slightly higher than in 2019 (43.29%), French media reported. The country had around 50 million voters to send 81 politicians to the European Parliament.

News.Az