French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the lower house of parliament and announced fresh elections after his party’s poor performance in the EU elections. His party was defeated by the far-right National Rally.
French President Emanuel Macron announced Sunday he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap election after his centrist alliance was trounced by the far-right National Rally in the European Parliament elections.
According to the first exit polls, the National Rally won around 32%, more than double Macron’s pro-EU coalition, which received 15% of the vote.
The first round of France’s parliamentary election will be held on June 30 and a second round is scheduled for July 7.
Exit polls on Sunday have shown the far-right making substantial gains in other member states in the European Parliament election, including in Germany and Austria.
Most parliamentary systems also allow snap elections - there is usually a maximum length allowed before the next election but the PM can always call one earlier.
This has happened pretty frequently up here in Canada and Trudeau will time elections after good news if the LPC polling particularly strongly.
I think this is an overall good thing, it means that as long as a party is delivering success about once every four years it can remain in power - while allowing it to do the unpopular but necessary things in the interim. A hated party can’t survive in power, but a party that invests in the long term can thrive… it does have a dark side though. The party in power may engage in frivolous bullshit before the election (like unproductive handouts) to try and sway public opinion. It’s up to the public to see through short term bullshit and judge a party more long-term.