At the end of the European elections which put the National Rally in the lead with 31.5% according to the Ipsos polling institute, far ahead of the score of the presidential camp, Emmanuel Macron announced, to everyone’s surprise, the dissolution of the National Assembly this June 9, 2024.
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The French president Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday evening the dissolution of the National Assembly and the organization of new legislative elections, after the victory in the European elections of the French extreme right, far ahead of the camp of the presidential majority.
“ I will sign in a few moments the decree convening the legislative elections which will be held on June 30 for the first round and July 7 for the second “, declared the Head of State in a televised address after the announcement of the results in the European elections, the outcome of which ” is not a good result for the parties defending Europe “.
Read also[En direct] Europeans 2024: towards a surge of the far right, in France Macron dissolves the Assembly
During his speech, the president recalled that he has always “ considered that a united, strong, independent Europe is good for Francethis is a situation to which [il ne peut se] solve. The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for [la Nation]but also for [l’Europe]for France’s place in Europe and in the world. »
He added : “ The far right is both the impoverishment of the French and the downgrading of our country. So, at the end of this day, I will not be able to act as if nothing had happened. Added to this situation is a fever which has gripped public and parliamentary debate in our country in recent years. A disorder which, I know, worries you, sometimes shocks you and to which I do not intend to give in », insisted Emmanuel Macron.
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Unexpected announcement
All the signals that we had before today’s vote, from the entourage of the President of the Republic, were more in the direction that European elections do not necessarily require, even if the score is not not good for the majority, to make modifications, changes, to take it into account. And the president himself said, “ I’ll see », not giving the impression that he was going to make major upheavals, recalls Valérie Gashead of the political department of RFI.
And then indeed, it fell. First the announcement of a speech by the Head of State which was unexpected. And besides, it is unprecedented for a President of the Republic to speak on the evening of the European elections in this way. So, there was a first shock, and then the rumor of the announcement of a dissolution.
This announcement came at a good time, even though this was what the National Rally had requested. Jordan Bardella said it again. He wanted to push the president, but it was a bit like a challenge that people said he wouldn’t take. Emmanuel Macron takes the National Rally at its word and calls the French to witness. He does not want to remain in a situation where the National Rally and other far-right forces represent 40% of the votes and 40% of voters in the country. And so he wants to go back to universal suffrage, by the people, and he trusts the people to make the right choice. This time, Emmanuel Macron is trying everything.
The National Rally says it is ready “to straighten out the country”
The reactions following the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly by the President were not long in coming. Marine Le Pendeputy of the National Rally, greets “ this decision which is part of the logic of the institutions of the Fifth Republic “. “ We are ready to restore the country, ready to defend France”she added.
Reaction from Marine le Pen, after the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly by Emmanuel Macron
The dissolution of the National Assembly was “ demanded by Jordan Bardella ” And ” will remain a stain on Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, one more », Estimates the leader of the PS-Place publique list Raphaël Glusckmann on TF1. “ The presidential majority and the President of the Republic himself have proven to be completely incapable – and this evening’s decision has once again shown it – of facing their historic responsibility. », according to Raphaël Glucksmann for whom “this game is extremely dangerous “.
Raphaël Glucksmann: “The National Rally sets the tempo”
François Bayrouthe president of Modem, for his part welcomed a “ risk taking » by Emmanuel Macron who took the “ courageous decision » to dissolve the National Assembly for “ get the country out of the doldrums », after the victory of the RN in the European elections. “ The President of the Republic takes his responsibilities. This doesn’t happen often in the history of our country. He takes his responsibilities and says to the French: I give you the choice for the future », Estimated the leader of one of the majority parties.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of La France insoumise, declares that his party “does not fear the people”. “ Since there is an election, [c’est l’occasion] to reaffirm very loudly and very loudly that when we are rebellious, we do not fear the people. It’s the contrary », he added in front of his party activists in Paris.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “Emmanuel Macron was right to dissolve”
Six dissolutions under the Fifth Republic
Presidential prerogative in the 1958 Constitution, the dissolution of the National Assembly, announced Sunday by Emmanuel Macron, is the sixth under the Fifth Republic and has only occurred eight times in more than a hundred years.
- Under de Gaulle in 1962 and 1968
On October 9, 1962, General de Gaulle dissolved the Assembly following the adoption of a motion of censure at the initiative of the Socialists, the MRP and the Independents, opposed to a constitutional revision aimed at establishing the election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage.
The Gaullists emerged strengthened from the elections of November 1962, which allowed the president to form a real majority around him.
On May 30, 1968, Charles de Gaulle once again dissolved the Assembly elected a year earlier at the end of the long social crisis – the “events” of May 68 – which shook the government. The June elections resulted in a right-wing tidal wave, with the Gaullists alone obtaining an absolute majority.
- Under Mitterrand in 1981 and 1988
The day after his presidential inauguration, the socialist François Mitterrand dissolved, on May 22, 1981, the National Assembly elected in March 1978 where the right had an absolute majority. The Socialists obtained an absolute majority at the end of the June elections.
Re-elected in 1988, Mr. Mitterrand dissolved on May 14 the Assembly elected in March 1986, where the right held an absolute majority. The elections that followed this time only gave a relative majority to the Socialists.
- Under Chirac in 1997
“ The dissolution was never done for the convenience of the president, but to resolve a political crisis », declared Jacques Chirac again in 1996.
But from March 1997, a few voices were raised on the right, in particular that of the Secretary General of the Élysée Dominique de Villepin, to demand legislative elections before the normal deadline of March 1998. The worsening of the economic situation, then wrongly predicted by many experts, is their main argument: we might as well organize elections before things get worse.
On April 21, the head of state announced that he was dissolving the Assembly, arguing that France needed “ right now » of a “ new momentum “. The left is launching the campaign around the new concept of “plural left”, bringing together PS, PCF, left radicals, Greens and Citizens’ Movement.
In the second round, in June it obtained a majority of 319 seats, paving the way for cohabitation until 2002, the longest in the Fifth Republic.