FALCON POWERS – French President Macron is calling for early elections after the defeat in the European elections. What are his motivations for this decision? Will he emerge unscathed from this great risk or “real gamble”, as described by a French citizen? “It’s a bit strange,” says a passer-by named Jean-Paul to DW in central Paris. “It was very surprising that Macron decided to dissolve parliament. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
Jean-Paul was not the only one who expressed confusion after the results of the European elections. President Emmanuel Macron has astonished many people, including many members of the Renaissance party, when he quickly announced the dissolution of the French parliament after the results and called for snap legislative elections. The elections will be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.
This surprising move came after the strongly pro-European Union Renaissance party, formerly known as “The Republic Forward!”, suffered a major defeat to the far-right National Front party in the European elections.
This party, whose leader Marine Le Pen was president for 10 years before handing over leadership to Jordan Bardella in 2022, obtained more than 30% of the votes compared to 15% for the Renaissance party. The French president said on Sunday evening (June 9th) when the results came in: “The far-right impoverishes the French and weakens the country.” He added: “So, at the end of this day, I cannot act as if nothing happened,” expressing that he is referring the choice to the people.
