Macron Announces Early Elections Following Far-Right Urge in EU Vote
FRANCE-Following a significant win for his opponent Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in the European Parliament election, President Emmanuel Macron has announced the holding of early legislative elections later this month.
Will Macron’s gamble pay off?
According to exit surveys, the far-right party is expected to receive 32% of the vote, which is more than twice as many as the president’s Renaissance party. He declared that the two voting rounds would occur on June 30 and July 7, just a few weeks before the Paris Olympics, when he dissolved the legislature. An hour after the polls in France’s EU elections had closed and exit polls had been announced, Mr. Macron made the shocking and dramatic choice in a broadcast speech from the Élysée Palace. Shortly after Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old head of National Rally, publicly urged the president to call for legislative elections, he made his choice. The president informed the electorate in France, “I have heard your message, and I will not let it go without a response.”
He declared, “France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony,” but he could not accept the far-right’s development “everywhere in the continent.” Barely two years into his second term as president, Mr. Macron already lacks a majority in the French parliament. While this European vote theoretically has no impact on domestic politics, he made it evident that he believed the system would be too burdened to continue his mandate without a fresh public consultation. Since the next legislative elections are unrelated to the presidential election and Mr. Macron has three more years left in office as president, they will not have an impact on his personal position.
Can the President recover from EU vote humiliation?
A quick election would be a major surprise to the nation and a major danger for President Macron. He may have responded otherwise. He might have simply continued, characterizing the far right’s resounding triumph as an anomaly unique to Europe that will be rectified in future, more significant elections. He might have relied on the approaching European football tournament in Germany and, more importantly, the Olympics in Paris to divert attention from politics for a few months. The Paris commentariat had no doubt that he would accept his party’s defeat in that manner.
However, it is reasonable to infer that the president anticipated this and had prepared his response beforehand. He would have had plenty of time to weigh his alternatives, given the outcome was undoubtedly nearly identical to the polls. He’s stuck, that much is certain. It’s already difficult to push any bill through the National Assembly without a majority. Now that the majority of the nation is so obviously against him, any new legislation, like the next budget, might have been combustible. Consequently, he has chosen “clarity”. He claims that National Rally should be allowed to take power if they get the necessary number of votes.
What’s at stake in France’s snap election?
According to the BBC, Mr. Macron has twice defeated Ms. Le Pen in presidential elections. Ms. Le Pen responded right once, stating that her party was “ready to exercise power, ready to put an end to mass immigration”. As per aljazeera, Three years before the conclusion of Macron’s final term, Le Pen’s good performance she gained ten points in the most recent European Union election in 2019 will erode Macron’s grasp on power.
Additionally, when the struggle for succession to succeed him intensifies, it may lead to high-level defections from his centrist bloc. The French claim to be becoming less and less prejudiced, and their measure of tolerance for outsiders is rising steadily. Nevertheless, the “alarm” button has been pressed by the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme (CNCDH), a French agency that keeps an eye on the respect for human rights. Published on Monday, July 18, the organization highlighted the “continued prevalence of discriminatory behaviors” based on actual or presumed origin, religion, or skin color in its annual report on the battle against racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia.
Call to action: Boycott Pairs Olympics 2024
Here are some cases to boycott this event under these elections. The 1951st anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’s ratification and the 50th anniversary of the law’s enactment, which punishes “racist insult and defamation” and “incitement to discrimination, hatred or racial violence,” are being observed this year in France.
However, the CNCDH noted that “stigmatizing discourse with racist and xenophobic overtones has not completely disappeared.” The Pairs olympics event is almost near to start in this situation, surroundings should be safe for fans. But it is not looking safe yet. So fans should boycott this olympics.
