French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the lower house of France’s parliament.
It was a surprise announcement as he sent voters back to the polls in the coming weeks to choose lawmakers, as his party lost by the far-right in the European elections 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.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party was estimated to get around 31%-32% of the votes. It’s a historic result more than double the share of Macron’s Renaissance party, which was projected to reach around 15%.
In the EU elections Macron himself was not a candidate and his term as president still runs for three more years.
‘My decision was serious but showed the confidence in our democracy, in letting the sovereign people have their say’, said Emmanuel Macron.
Macron added, ‘In the next few days, I’ll be saying what I think is the right direction for the country. I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered’.
Macron’s centrist party won the most seats in the latest legislative elections in 2022 but lost its majority at the National Assembly, forcing lawmakers into political maneuvering to pass bills.
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