In early June, President Macron called for snap elections after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party did surprisingly well in EU elections. His reasons for calling the election, which he was not obliged to do, were mixed.
The president’s calculation seems to be that, at some point, he was likely to face an irresistible political demand for fresh parliamentary elections. He presides over a minority government, which has struggled at times to pass legislation and regularly had to resort to the use of a constitutional provision that allows bills to go through without a direct vote. Each time this exposes the government to a no-confidence motion. Since Mr Macron was re-elected in 2022 his governments have survived 28 such votes. Another was likely—although not constitutionally inevitable—to greet the next budget, which had been due to go to parliament in September. By dissolving…
