The French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) made historical gains on June 9, dominating the European elections by a landslide with 31.5% of votes. Fronted by the Rassemblement National’s 28 year-old lead candidate Jordan Bardella, the victory prompted French President Emmanuel Macron — whose party Renaissance came in second with 14.
5% of votes — to dissolve the National Assembly and call early Parliamentary elections. These will take place in two rounds, on June 30 and July 7, less than a month before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris. Perceived as a poker move by insiders, these snap elections could lead to seeing the Rassemblement National win the majority within the National Assembly and subsequently obligate Macron to cohabit with a prime minister belonging to the far right, most likely Bardella.
Macron appears to be following the footsteps of Jacques Chirac, the right-wing former president, who dissolved the National Assembly in 1997 and called snap elections. After the socialist party won the majority, Chirac had to cohabitate with Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin for five years. Announcing his decision to dissolve the National Assembly in a televised address, Macron said it was an “act of trust.
In the capacity of French people to make the best choice of itself and for future generations. Trust in our democracy. Trust in France which, when faced with difficult times, has been able to unite and resist, to draw a future, .
