New elections
France’s Constitutional Council approves parliamentary elections
French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly in response to the defeat of his liberal forces in the European elections. Photo
© Michel Euler/AP/dpa
After the dissolution of the National Assembly, France is facing a very short election campaign. The Constitutional Council has now decided that the short deadline does not violate the rules.
The French Constitutional Council has rejected all objections to the short-term setting of the Parliamentary election rejected. The deadlines do not violate the constitution and do not endanger the seriousness of the election, ruled the Constitutional Council in Paris.
In response to the defeat of his liberal forces in the European elections and the landslide victory of the right-wing nationalists, President Emmanuel Macron surprisingly dissolved the National Assembly on June 9 and announced new elections for June 30 and July 7. The Constitutional Council then received complaints questioning the legality of such a short deadline for organizing and holding the elections.
The parties had until Sunday to draw up their lists of candidates for the constituencies. They are now in the election campaign. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets last weekend to protest against a possible shift to the right in France. On Thursday, hundreds of people in the port city of Marseille followed a call from the CGT union to protest against Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party Rassemblement National, as broadcaster France 3 reported.