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PARIS.- The French president Emmanuel Macron ruled out this Tuesday that he will resign if he faces defeat in the legislative elections which he decided to advance after learning of the victory of Marine Le Pen’s far-right party in the European Parliament elections.
“The institutions are clear and so is the place of the president, whatever the result,” said the president after dissolving the National Assembly (lower house) of France and calling legislative elections three years ahead of schedule, asked about the risk that the far-right National Reunion (RN) party asks for his resignation after the elections.
Despite the unexpected advancement of the legislative elections initially scheduled for 2027, Macron can continue as president until then, but he runs the risk of sharing power with a government of another political color in “cohabitation.”
In an interview with the French media Figaro Magazine, The president analyzed the result of the European elections, which earned him a historic performance for the National Reunion (RN) and spoke about the legislative ones that will take place next June 30 and July 7.
In the interview, Macron explained that they were two reasons that led him to dissolve the National Assembly and call elections: the feeling of disorder in parliamentary debates (even with sessions suspended due to the presence of Palestinian flags, something that is prohibited) and the lack of agreement after two years without a majority.
Macron had planned to lead a press conference this Tuesday after his dramatic decision to call early legislative elections, but finally postponed it for a day.
“The president will hold a press conference tomorrow, Wednesday, around noon. He will expose the course he considers fair for the Nation“said a source close to the president, after an official from the ruling party announced that the conference would be on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the victory of National Rally (RN) in France with 31.37% of the votes in the European elections, well ahead of the ruling alliance (14.6%), causing Macron to unexpectedly call early elections.
With these elections, Macron, who lacked an absolute majority in the National Assembly since mid-2022, seeks to position itself as the moderate option versus the “extremes”.
“The political clarification invoked on Sunday by the president is already underway. Republican forces, on the one hand, and extremist forces, on the other, are positioning themselves“added the source around him, in reference to the negotiations between parties.
Macron came to power in 2017 from the center, attracting those dissatisfied with the traditional alternation between socialists and conservatives. Since then, he has also sought to oppose the “extremes” that in his opinion the RN and La Francia Insumisa (radical left) would represent.
Despite the deterioration of the image of the centrist president, whose mandates have been marked by strong social protests such as the yellow vests or against the pension reform, The ruling party seeks to rescue its initial spirit.
The legislative and presidential elections of 2022 left France divided into three blocks: Macron’s centrist alliance, Marine Le Pen’s extreme right and the left front, which ended up breaking due to disagreements between the social democratic and radical wings. The first discussions regarding the new elections seem to consolidate these blocks.
Five days before the deadline to submit candidatures, The president of the conservative party Los Republicanos (LR), Eric Ciotti, caused surprise this Tuesday by advocating an “alliance” with RN, despite the rejection of several leaders of his party who asked for his resignation.
“We need an alliance with Reunión Nacional,” but “without ceasing to be ourselves,” Ciotti said on the TF1 network, assuring that both parties share “right-wing values” and that this would allow them “conserve deputies” in the face of the projected fall in the polls.
The leader of RN, Marine Le Pen welcomed Ciotti’s “brave choice” and “sense of responsibility,” whose proposal, if materialized, would put an end to the traditional isolation of the heir party of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front (FN), known for its racist statements.
However, this meant a political earthquake in the former ruling party with conservative presidents Charles De Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, many of whose members had already defected to Macron’s ranks since 2017.
For their part, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, The Ecologists and La Francia Insumisa (radical left) reached a compromise on Monday night to try to build a united front, despite the discomfort of some members with the leader of LFI, Jean -Luc Mélenchon.
AFP Agency
THE NATION
