By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to the European election results by dissolving parliament and calling an election after his party was handed a humbling defeat by the far-right in the elections on Sunday.
The legislative elections will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.
The announcement came after the first projected results from France put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union’s parliamentary elections, handing a chastening loss to Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party was estimated to get around 31%-32% of the votes, a historic result more than double the share of Macron’s Renaissance party, which was projected to reach around 15%.
“This is an essential time for clarification,” Macron said in a national address Sunday evening.
“I have heard your message, your concerns and I will not leave them unanswered … France needs a clear majority to act in serenity and harmony,”he added.”
As it stands, Macron’s Renaissance Party has 169 seats in France’s lower house of parliament, out of a total of 577 seats, and the RN has 88 seats.
An Ipsos poll of 4,000 people who were asked about their voting intentions last December suggested the RN could win 243–305 seats, giving it a majority in Parliament.
Le Pen, who head the National Rally group at the National Assembly, “welcomed” Macron’s move.
“We’re ready for it,” said Le Pen, who was the runner-up to Macron in the last two presidential elections. “We’re ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections. We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration, ready to make the purchasing power of the French a priority.”
The EU elections results were a hard blow for Macron, who has been advocating for Europe-wide efforts to defend Ukraine and the need for the EU to boost its own defenses and industry.