the concern of Renaissance activists after the dissolution of the Assembly

Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday the dissolution of the National Assembly after a landslide victory for the National Rally in the European elections.

It was a double shock, Sunday June 9, at the campaign HQ of the Renaissance list: first the score of the presidential party in the European elections, and then the worry and even incomprehension when Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Applause still rings out, as if to mask the shock wave that has just spread through the room. “He’s crazy.”, says an advisor while the microphone is closed. Open microphone, the activists, dazed, deplore “a sledgehammer blow”, a bet “very risky.” Nicolas has tears in his eyes: “I’m afraid he did the same stupid thing as Chirac”, in reference to the dissolution of the Assembly decided in April 1997 by the former right-wing president, which led to cohabitation with the left until 2002.

For Nicolas, the defeat in the European elections heralds a difficult campaign: “We have to go back into battle while the others are in a very dynamic state. I’m afraid, yes.” The RN is on everyone’s minds, including that of Hélène, a walker since 2016 and who is already planning ahead with a form of inevitability: “I prefer Bardella with Macron than Bardella with Marine Le Pen.”

In Renaissance HQ there is a scent of defeat before its time. “I’m going to lose my job, my MP won’t be re-elected.”, says a parliamentary collaborator from Burgundy. The deputy for Essonne Robin Reda is already showing himself in the campaign: “The French, we see, are thirsty for results, thirsty for action, thirsty for protection. Protection in the streets, protection of their economy… And we must respond with clarity to these issues.” Don’t waste a second because the campaign will be short, with the first round of legislative elections scheduled for June 30.