'We are ready to exercise power' Le Pen says after EU elections win
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Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party says Jordan Bardella would be its contender for prime minister if it won a majority in snap polls.
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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen exits the voting booth before voting for the European election, on Sunday, June 9, 2024, in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. (AP)
Right-wing populist Marine Le Pen has declared her party's readiness to take power in France following its decisive victory in Sunday's European Parliament elections.
"We are ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these upcoming parliamentary elections," Le Pen announced in Paris on Sunday evening.
"We are ready to rebuild the country, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to this mass migration, ready to make the purchasing power of the French a priority, ready to start re-industrializing the country," she stressed.
The latest projections show that Le Pen's National Rally (RN) list, led by Jordan Bardella, secured between 31.5% and 32% of the vote in the European Parliament elections, while Macron's alliance led by his Renaissance party received between 14.7% and 14.9%, and the Socialists garnered between 14% and 14.2%.
Macron on Sunday announced he was dissolving the country's parliament and called for snap legislative elections following the far-right's dominance in the European elections.
The first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on June 30, with the second round on July 7, Macron announced in an address to the nation.
He acknowledged that the outcome of the EU elections is "not a good result for parties who defend Europe," noting that far-right parties in France had managed to take almost 40% of the vote.
"Far right parties... are progressing everywhere in the continent," he said. "It is a situation to which I cannot resign myself."
"So, at the end of this day, I cannot act as if nothing had happened," Macron added. "I decided to give you the choice... Therefore I will dissolve the National Assembly tonight."
The dissolution will be the first such move since 1997 when then right-wing President Jacques Chirac called snap legislative elections only to see the left win a majority.
RN Vice President Sebastien Chenu announced on Monday that the party's 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella would be its contender for prime minister if it won a majority in snap elections.
