French President Emmanuel Macron, after suffering an embarrassing defeat in the European Union elections, has announced to dissolve the French parliament and conduct new legislative polls.
Announcing the new snap elections, Macron said that two rounds of voting would take place on June 30 and July 7, just a few weeks before the Paris elections, Al Jazeera reported.
Macron announced the dissolution via a televised address from the Élysée Palace just an hour after EU voting closed, and exit polls were declared.
The results from the exit poll suggested that the far right party headed by Marine Le Pen secured 32% of the vote, almost twice more than the president’s Renaissance party.
Macron’s announcement came not long after the far-right National Rally’s 28-year-old member, Jordan Bardella, openly called on the president to call parliamentary elections.
Replying to Bardella’s request, Macron said, “I have heard your message. France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony.”
Le Pen, in response to Macron’s decision, said that her party is “ready to exercise power, ready to put an end to mass immigration”.
Macron has been the president of France since 2017, and just two years into his second term, he has lost a majority in the French parliament.—Web Desk
