Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron. /AP

[Ta Kung Pao News]According to reports from Bloomberg and AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron said on the 11th that he would not resign regardless of the results of the National Assembly election, and denied rumors that he was discussing the possibility of resignation with his staff.

The European Parliament elections ended on the 9th. The far-right National Rally won 31.4% of the votes, the highest among French political parties; the ruling Ennahda Party led by Macron won 14.6% of the votes, ranking second. Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly that day and held new parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7.

This sudden news shocked the European political arena. Macron said that the dissolution of the National Assembly could prove who chose to prosper France and who only cared about developing themselves. When asked if he was ready to resign if the National Rally won the election, Macron responded: “The (French) Constitution was not drawn up by the National Rally. Regardless of the election results, the system is clear, and so is the position of the president.”

On the 11th, the leader of the traditional right-wing French party Republicans, Ciotti, expressed support for an alliance with the National Rally, triggering a crisis within the party. This is the first time in modern French political history that a traditional party leader supports an alliance with a far-right party.

Former National Rally leader Marine Le Pen praised Sciotti as “brave and responsible” and hoped that more Republican politicians would follow suit.

Traditionally, mainstream parties have adopted a “cordon d’oeil” strategy to exclude the far right. Republican Senate President Lache said he would “never accept” an agreement with the National Alliance and called for Sciotti to resign.