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00:00France 24's Clovis Ghassali standing by outside the French National Assembly and we can go
00:04across to him now. Clovis, good afternoon to you. Talk us through some of the political
00:07reactions we are getting to Emmanuel Macron's announcement.
00:13Clearly President Emmanuel Macron has surprised, if not shocked, many, even in his own ranks.
00:19One MP actually quit politics saying he did not believe this was the right decision and
00:24was only going to enable the French far right from getting into power. The President of
00:29the National Assembly, who is also one of his allies, said there was an alternative,
00:34another way and therefore clearly questioning his decision. The Mayor of Paris, Annie Delgaud,
00:41who is an opponent, she is a socialist of course, Annie Delgaud saying this decision
00:45was troubling ahead of the Olympics because the second round of the election will be taking
00:51place a few days, a few weeks, should I say, before the Olympic Games and therefore she
00:58clearly says it was the wrong decision. And on the other hand we spoke to an MP for French
01:04citizens overseas, she is called Eleonore Carois, she supports Emmanuel Macron and she
01:11supports his move. Take a listen.
01:14Did Emmanuel Macron do this?
01:17I think he was responding to the votes of the French constituents that decided to elect
01:23a majority of the far right and I think it's also a way to say, well, you have the power,
01:29you can vote and determine what you want, what government you want to have in July,
01:34so go and vote.
01:36Is it not very risky?
01:39It might be, but I think it's never a bad thing to give the power to the people to express
01:45their opinions, to express their will, so I am calm today and willing to go and make
01:52a good fight.
01:53OK, there was a member of Emmanuel Macron's own party saying that this, well, it could
01:58be a risky move, but we'll see what happens. Clovis, now there are just 20 days left for
02:04this vote, a lot to do for every political party across the spectrum in the run-up to
02:09these elections, including forming coalitions.
02:12Indeed, only 20 days to do all the necessary, much-needed campaigning and also for a
02:22negotiation. Take the left wing, the left wing who still believes if it is united,
02:28it could win the coming parliamentary elections and prevent the French far right from getting
02:33into power.
02:34On all sides of the left wing, you've got figures saying we need to negotiate and also
02:41form a bloc.
02:43You've got the leader of France en bas, Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon, who's infuriated and angered
02:48many on the left wing, socialists and Greens in the past, and with whom it will be difficult
02:53to conclude an alliance, but possibly a necessary alliance. Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon saying a union
03:01is needed urgently and it needs to be strong.
03:05Sandrine Rousseau from the Green Party also saying we only have a few hours to get a deal
03:12to form this bloc.
03:14And you've got figures also from the socialists, such as Olivier Faure, saying that a new popular
03:21front is needed.
03:22In other words, all these left wing parties, socialists, Greens, France en bas, the radical
03:28left wants to form a bloc in order to appear calm, united in these parliamentary elections
03:36and stand a chance of winning.
03:39And then you've got, of course, the national rally.
03:41The national rally, the big winner of the EU elections, finishing with nearly twice
03:46the amount of votes President Macron's side got.
03:49While they're saying we're strong, the French people backed our ideas, showed they wanted
03:54an alternative to President Macron.
03:57We're the alternative.
03:58We're not going to make any deal with other parties, but we will conclude deals with individuals,
04:04depending on their constituencies, depending on their values.
04:07In other words, they do want to attract right wing figures.
04:11Will they be able to do so?
04:12All this negotiating, all these negotiations are set to take place in the coming days in
04:18order to see which blocs are opposing who and to see, of course, what the situation
04:26is before the vote of the first round of the parliamentary elections.
04:30That's on June 30th.
04:31Clovis, thank you very much for that, Clovis Casale reporting there from inside the National
04:35Assembly, which has been dissolved by the president.