French Parliament dissolved; President Emmanuel Macron calls snap elections for lower house

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron, who dissolved the French Parliament, announced elections for the National Assembly, the lower house, on June 30th and July 7th.

Far-right parties had won a majority in France's 81-seat European Parliament election. Macron's unexpected move is followed by this. Macron's rival Marine Le Pen's National Rally party won 32 percent of the vote. The coalition led by Macron's Renaissance party received only 15 percent of the vote. At the same time, the outcome of the parliamentary elections will not affect Macron's presidency. The last parliamentary elections were held in 2022.

The parties of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fitzo also lost in the European Parliament elections. However, in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy took the lead.

European Parliament

• The European Parliament is the legislative body of the European Union
• 720 representatives take decisions on various projects, budget etc
• People of all 27 member states can vote for representatives
• Election every five years.