On the face of it, there is little logic in calling an election from a position of great weakness.
But that is what President Emmanuel Macron has done by calling a snap parliamentary election in France on the back of a humiliation by the far right.
Instead, Mr. Macron, who became president at 39 in 2017 by being a risk taker, chose to gamble that France, having voted one way on Sunday, will vote another in a few weeks.
“I am astonished, like almost everyone else,” said Alain Duhamel, the prominent author of “Emmanuel the Bold,” a book about Mr. Macron.
“It’s not madness, it’s not despair, but it is a huge risk from an impetuous man who prefers taking the initiative to being subjected to events.”
Persons:
Emmanuel Macron, Jordan Bardella, Macron, “, ”, Alain Duhamel, “ Emmanuel, Bold
Organizations:
National, of
Locations:
France