French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country's parliament and the National Assembly, calling for snap elections after exit polls indicated his party's significant loss in the European parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to CNN.
Preliminary estimates showed the far-right National Rally (RN) party secured 31.5 percent of the vote, more than double the Renaissance Party's 15.2 percent, which managed to place second. The Socialists followed in third place with 14.3 percent.
Jordan Bardella, leader of the RN, urged Macron to dissolve the French parliament during a celebratory speech after the release of the exit polls. "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.
In response, Macron announced in a national address that he would dissolve the lower house of parliament and organize parliamentary elections. Macron stated there would be two rounds: 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," he declared. "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," the French President added.
Parliamentary elections in France are used to elect the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house. The president is chosen through separate elections, which are not expected to take place again until 2027. In the legislative elections held in 2022, Macron's Ensemble coalition, which includes the Renaissance party, failed to secure an outright majority and had to seek external support.
The European parliamentary elections, the world's second-largest democratic exercise after India's, involve nearly 400 million voters across the EU. These voters will elect 720 members of the European Parliament, representing a vast area from the Arctic Circle to the borders of Africa and Asia.
The results of these elections will influence policies on global issues, including climate change, defense, migration, and international relations with major players like China and the United States.
