Macron Dissolves Parliament After Le Pen Victory In European Vote

[RAMROD 118,170]

 

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he intends to dissolve parliament and call snap legislative elections in the wake of his allies’ crushing defeat to the far right National Rally (RN) in Sunday’s European parliament elections.

According to usually reliable projections, Macron’s centrist list was on course to score between 14.8% and 15.2% of the vote, less than half of RN’s tally of 31.5%-33% - the party’s highest ever in a nationwide election - and only just ahead of the Socialist list on 14%.

“At the end of this day, therefore, I will not be able to act as if nothing has happened,” Macron said in a televised address on Sunday. “That is why … I have decided to give you the choice of our parliamentary future again, by voting.”

The French president, whose second term had more than two years to run before elections due in 2027, said he would shortly sign a decree calling the elections, and that the first round would be held on 30 June and the second on 7 July.

“France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony. To be French, at heart, it is about choosing to write history, not be driven by it,” Macron said.

The head of the RN’s list, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, had earlier said French voters had clearly “expressed a desire for change” and called for snap legislative elections.

Macron was “a weakened president”, Bardella told the far-right party’s supporters at a victory party in the Bois de Vincennes, east of Paris, saying the “unprecedented gap” in the two scores reflected “a stinging disavowal and rejection of the president and his government”.

Marine Le Pen, the veteran far-right leader, said: “We are ready to take power if the French people have confidence in us in these forthcoming legislative elections. We are ready to put the country back on its feet. We are ready to defend the interests of the French people. We are ready to put an end to mass immigration.”

Analysts had predicted that Macron, whose centrist alliance does not have a majority in the lower house and has had to push legislation through without a vote using a controversial constitutional tool, could be in trouble after the European elections.

Weakened by such a heavy defeat, the centrist president was likely to face repeated censure motions probably leading to an eventual government collapse, experts have warned – a scenario the embattled president is clearly seeking to avoid. However observers warned that he was taking a gamble.

Raphael Glucksmann, who ran on in the European elections on a combined ticket for his European group, Place Publique, and the Socialist party, said Macron had “given in” to Bardella. “This is a very dangerous game to play with democracy and the institutions. I am flabbergasted,” he said.

Another critic, Valérie Pécresse, a senior figure in the conservative Les Républicains, said: “Dissolving without giving anyone time to organise and without any campaign is playing Russian roulette with the country’s destiny.”

The RN was far from the only far-right party to be celebrating gains on Sunday night. Exit polls indicated that the hard-right populists had also expanded their share of the vote in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/09/eu-elections-far-right-gains-germany-austria-netherlands-exit-polls

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jun/09/eu-europe-elections-2024-results-news-updates-live-latest

[Nite 5,913]

It's been crushing to watch the results roll in. I'm not in France, but here as well there was a very heavy movement towards the conservatives/right-wingers, more than I thought possible. It's not like young people just didn't vote and these are all boomers voting either, even the youngest voters seem to have chosen that path more. The future is scary. 

[HelloHangoverz 17,452]

2 minutes ago, Nite said:

It's been crushing to watch the results roll in. I'm not in France, but here as well there was a very heavy movement towards the conservatives/right-wingers, more than I thought possible. It's not like young people just didn't vote and these are all boomers voting either, even the youngest voters seem to have chosen that path more. The future is scary. 

It really is. 21st century isn't shaping up to be very sunny. Everything seems to be going downhill towards an inevitable conclusion: the decline of the left, climate disaster and wars everywhere

[lastpopicon 37,532]

Yes, this is scary.

In my country the far right lost 10% of the votes but the story in other european countries is different...

I'm happy for my country,  but scared for europe..

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,947]

When is France gonna do the French thing again?

[Arcanum 5,210]

EU should have seen it coming tho.

Southerns have been in a constant social and financial crisis ever since 2010. It all leads to corrosion and tension in between. The irresponsible thought behind it is "Why bothering being in a union that offers us nothing but trouble". Mix it up with in-government corruption & scandals rising and this happens.

 

I have read a study some weeks ago about how the sociopolitical landscape is reminiscent to the 20s decade in Europe. Let's hope history won't repeat itself. 

[Sestri Levante 1,124]

These European elections have been so goddamn messy  although I'm surprised the far right didn't grow as much as it was projected to 

[lastpopicon 37,532]

Social media and alt right media are a pair made in heaven.

Quick bits with just enough context to influence and reinforce people beliefs.

We are repeating history, dark times ahead...

 

[Lucas 31,646]

This Bardella guy kept getting humiliated in every single interview. He has no idea how politics work, how voting works, how government works, how anything works. People didn't vote for him but for racism and hate. He's a Marine Le Pen fanboy who's as dumb as a rock.

[alsemanche 97,855]

This is a shitshow

[alsemanche 97,855]

7 hours ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

When is France gonna do the French thing again?

Or this thing

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,947]

5 minutes ago, alsemanche said:

Or this thing

 

[Juanlittlem 49,674]

The future looks so dark for Europe. A far-right party whose leader have multiple trials pending and wants to make prisoners work for free + wants to build a prison to send our current president there got 3 representatives (61 was the number of representatives to distribute) with 800k votes

[Debithius 6,070]

Did people honestly think the west would forever stay left? The pendulum is going right and soon it will swing back to left.

[Guest]

i'm so scared and sad. not surprised but still devastated. 

macron is blatantly opening a  boulevard for fascism. 

The level of cynicism has reached full potential. 

we're fvcked.