Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly the day after a very disappointing score for the presidential majority list in the European elections on June 9 took an immense majority of French people by surprise. And this bet, with immense stakes, turned out to be a loser, underlines part of the foreign press.
According to initial estimates, Ensemble obtained 20.3% of the votes after this first round and came in third position behind the National Rally (RN, 34%) and the New Popular Front (NFP, 28%).
“The vote was a crushing humiliation for President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance,” writes the British weekly The Economist. “His centrist movement, once dominant, suffered a severe defeat,” coward The New York Times.
The vote was marked by a high turnout, estimated at between 65.5% and 69.7%. This was the highest since at least 1997, when an early election was called by the then President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac.
Political isolation
As soon as the results were announced, Emmanuel Macron called, in a press release, for a “large gathering clearly Democrat and Republican” against the RN. The head of state sees in this high participation the will of the French to “clarify the political situation”.
In her first speech on Sunday evening, Marine Le Pen, re-elected in the 11e constituency of Pas-de-Calais, was delighted to have succeeded in “erase the Macronist bloc”. “A massive vote foiled the trap that was set for the country. He inflicts a heavy defeat on the so-called presidential majority,” declared Jean-Luc Mélenchon for his part. “Macronism may have signed its death certificate this evening”, observes the Madrid daily The country.
“Many politicians who supported him for years now risk losing their seats, politically isolating Emmanuel Macron,” analyse The Washington Post. With, first of all, Gabriel Attal, who will have to leave the Matignon hotel.
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