French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country’s parliament and the National Assembly, calling for early elections after exit polls revealed significant losses for his party in the European parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to CNN.
Preliminary estimates indicated that the far-right National Rally (RN) party secured 31.5 percent of the vote, which is more than double the share of Macron’s Renaissance Party. The Renaissance Party barely held onto second place with 15.2 percent, just ahead of the Socialists, who garnered 14.3 percent.
Following the release of the exit polls, RN leader Jordan Bardella urged Macron to dissolve the French parliament in a victory speech.
“This unprecedented defeat for the current government marks the end of a cycle, and Day 1 of the post-Macron era,” Bardella said, according to CNN.
Macron, in an hour-long national address, announced that he will dissolve the lower house of parliament and call for parliamentary elections. The elections will have two rounds, with the first on June 30 and the second on July 7.
“I have decided to give you back the choice of your parliamentary future by voting. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly this evening,” Macron declared on Sunday.
“This decision is serious, heavy. But it is, above all, an act of trust. Trust in you, my dear compatriots. In the capacity of the French people to make the most just decision,” he added.
In the French system, parliamentary elections determine the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house. The president of the country is elected through separate elections, which are not due again until 2027.
The Ensemble coalition, which includes Macron’s Renaissance party, failed to achieve a majority in the 2022 legislative elections, forcing them to seek external support.
The EU elections are the world’s second-largest democratic event, surpassed only by India’s elections. Nearly 400 million voters across the EU will elect 720 members of the European Parliament, from the Arctic Circle to the borders of Africa and Asia.
The results of these elections will influence policies on global issues such as climate change, defense, migration, and international relations with major countries like China and the United States.