French President Emmanuel Macron is “studying the possibility” of holding snap parliamentary elections in the country as early as this autumn, Bloomberg reported citing anonymous informed sources.
The next French parliamentary elections are not scheduled to take place until 2029, but Bloomberg reported that President Macron is discussing with his “inner circle” possible early elections. Another option for snap parliamentary elections could be to combine them with the next municipal elections to be held in 2026.
According to the agency’s sources, the idea of holding early elections appeared to the president because of the growing influence of France in the international arena, which, in turn, led to the growing popularity of Emmanuel Macron inside the country.
Last December, the French president told the leaders of the country’s main parties that he would try to avoid holding snap elections before his term of office expires in 2027. The presidential administration has not officially commented on reports about the possibility of early parliamentary elections, but a source close to Mr Macron said that he has no plans to hold early elections yet.
Ratings are plummeting rapidly
On April 13 it became known that two-thirds of French residents disapprove of the policies pursued by Macron and French PM François Bayrou. According to a survey of 1,000 French adults, 70% disapprove of Macron’s activities, which is 1 percentage point (p.p.) more than a month earlier. The number of those who sympathise with the French president fell by 1 p.p. to 26%. The rest of the respondents could not give a definite answer. In addition, 67% of respondents were dissatisfied with Bayrou’s activity, which is 3 p. p. more compared to the previous month. His work was positively assessed by 1 p. p. less respondents, i.e. 24% of the survey participants.
The survey was conducted after Le Pen’s court verdict. The verdict almost did not affect her rating. Support for the leader of the RN party expressed 2 p. p. more respondents, that is, 33% of the French. Against the head of the RN opposed 50% of respondents, which is 1 p. p. more than a month earlier. 34% of respondents expressed their readiness to vote for the RN president and MEP Jordan Bardella, while 48% were against his candidacy.
