French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out resigning, whatever the result of the snap elections he called to combat the rise of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), in an interview published on Tuesday, June 11.
"It is not the RN that writes the constitution, nor the spirit of it," he told Le Figaro Magazine when asked what he would do if the RN won the parliamentary elections and called for his resignation. "The institutions are clear, the place of the president is clear, and it is also clear whatever the result," he added.
Macron was supposed to speak Tuesday at a press conference, which was postponed. It will now take place on Wednesday, an aide said asking not to be named, adding that since Macron's call for snap elections, a political realignment was underway between "Republican forces on one side and extremist forces on the other."
On Tuesday afternoon, Eric Ciotti, the leader of France's right-wing Les Républicains (LR) backed an alliance with Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National (RN). "I want my political family to move in this direction," Ciotti said. He said he had spoken to Le Pen and RN's leader Jordan Bardella.
Macron called the snap polls after the far-right Rassemblement National crushed his centrist alliance in Sunday's EU ballot.