Macron calls snap general elections on back of EU poll
In a televised announcement one hour after the last polling booths closed in elections in France for the European Parliament, in which early estimations give the far-right Rassemblement National party a large victory, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for snap national parliamentary elections, to be held over two rounds on June 30th and July 7th.
FranceFrance’s president Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, and called a snap election after an exit poll showed his Renaissance party is set to be trounced by the far-right opposition in European parliamentary elections on Sunday, reports CNN.
After initial projections, the far-right National Rally (RN) party came out on top with 31.5% of the vote, more than double the share of Renaissance, which scraped into second place on 15.2% of the vote, just ahead of the Socialists in third with 14.3% of the vote.
In a celebratory speech after the publication of the exit poll, RN leader Jordan Bardella had called on Macron to dissolve the French parliament, calling the gap between the two parties a “stinging disavowal” for the president.
