Why Macron called a snap election in France after far-right gains in Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections after rival Marine le Pen and other far-right parties made gains in the European Parliament.
LONDON — With the far right surging in Europe, France’s leader has taken a colossal gamble to try to halt its ascendency.
President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that he was “confident” his compatriots would “make the right choice” after he stunned the nation by calling a snap election.
He may hope to stop the far right in its tracks. But he also risks handing them domestic power, hobbling the final years of his centrist premiership while overshadowing a summer that was due to be one of celebration at the Paris Olympics.
Macron’s surprise announcement followed European Parliament elections, held Thursday to Sunday, which saw the anti-immigration and climate-skeptic right make huge gains in the country and the continent’s other powerhouse, Germany.Ballots for the 360 million voters in the European Union were still being counted Monday. And though the far right’s successes were not as strong elsewhere, in France it won by a landslide.
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally received double the votes of Macron’s centrists — a drubbing so brutal that the president felt compelled to call the snap legislative election for the end of this month.
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