Macron dissolves parliament in surprise pre‑election move
A week before the first round of parliamentary elections, France's President Emmanuel Macron decided to make a special political gesture. He issued a letter to the nation, which French media published on Sunday. The lengthy text has a surprising ending.
24 June 2024 13:51
The French president surprised his fellow citizens with his reaction to the results of the European Parliament elections. Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly and announce new parliamentary elections. They will take place next Sunday, June 30th, and July 7th.
The first extensive part of the letter, which Macron delivered on Sunday, contains explanations for this decision, which, as the president admits, "provoked anger directed towards me". However, as he emphasises, it was for the country's good. "The opposition was preparing to overthrow the government in the autumn, which would have plunged our country into a crisis at the time of budget passage" - wrote Macron.
The message includes harsh criticism of opponents. Macron warns that the far-right National Rally (RN), a party founded in the 1970s by Jean-Marie Le Pen and led by his daughter Marine Le Pen since 2011, claims to have the best ideas for security and illegal immigration, but only "divides the nation", "ignores climate change", and under the guise of reforms, will lead to tax increases.
The New People's Front (NFP) also received criticism, a coalition founded on 10th June 2024 for the upcoming snap elections. The NFP, which includes La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, Ecologists, the French Communist Party, as well as the left-wing Generation.s and the ecological Place Publique, was accused by the president of "refusing to take a clear stance on secularism and anti-Semitism".
France before the elections. Macron's resignation? He wrote a letter
Opposing these harmful directions, the French president proposed candidates for Together for the Republic. He emphasised that this would guarantee "respect, ambition, and justice for our Nation."
"Emmanuel Macron, therefore hopes that he will be able to use the power of the media to try to save his camp, which the polls predict will not only lose its relative majority but, worse still, take third place, far behind RN and NFP" - comments Monday's edition of "Le Parisien". The newspaper notes that Macron is acting contrary to the advice of his advisors, who suggest that the president should show himself to voters less frequently for the time being.
Even representatives of his camp are publicly distancing themselves from him, giving the impression that the post-Macron era has begun. However, the letter contains a message that seems to be directed precisely at them.
"I trust that the majority leaders and the Prime Minister will remain united" - writes Macron. And he adds, to reassure those who believe he will have no choice but to resign: "You can trust me that I will serve as your president until May 2027". "With my confidence" - he adds.
