Macron dissolves French parliament, calls snap election after EU vote defeat

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the lower house of the parliament and called for new general elections after his party was...

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the lower house of the parliament and called for new general elections after his party was handed a humbling defeat by the far-right at the European elections on Sunday.

The parliamentary election will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

Macron announced the move after the first projected results from France put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union's parliamentary election, handing a chastening loss to Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.

Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party is estimated to get around 31-32% of the votes, a historic result more than double the share of Macron's Renaissance party, which is projected to reach around 15%.

Macron, who lost his majority at the National Assembly in 2022, is taking a big risk with the move that could backfire and increase the chances of Le Pen to eventually take power.