“I cannot act as if nothing had happened,” said the president in a message to the nation, an hour after the first estimates gave the nationalist party National Group (RN), identified with the extreme right, victory at the polls. with 32 percent of the votes, more than double those achieved by the ruling Renacimiento.
According to Macron, he decided to put his parliamentary future in the hands of the French through a new election, starting with the dissolution tonight of the National Assembly, in which the ruling party had lost the absolute majority two years ago.
The first round of the legislative elections will take place on June 30 and the second one a week later.
This is a serious and difficult decision, but above all an act of trust, said the president.
The initial reaction of the head of the RN list, Jordan Bardella, was to demand that Macron dissolve the Assembly, given the message of change collected at the polls, to which 49 million 500 thousand French people were summoned today.
For her part, upon hearing Macron’s announcement, far-right leader Marine Le Pen stated in a message to the country that RN is ready to exercise power.
From the left-wing parties, their leaders expressed concern about the victory of the extreme right and accused the president of promoting it with his policies.
Voices from all sectors of the opposition considered the result in the European elections a clear message of popular discontent with the government.
jha/wmr
