PARIS (AP) 鈥 French President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to call snap parlimentary elections after his party鈥檚 crushing defeat in the European parliamentary vote, insisting on Wednesday that voters will ultimately choose the 鈥減rogressive bloc" over the far-right.
In France, legislative elections decide the makeup of the parliament, not the occupant of the presidential Elysee Palace. Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027, and said he would not step down before the end of his term.
The somber-looking French leader said his move to call early polls 鈥 the voting will take place in two rounds, on June 30 and July 7 鈥 showed his 鈥渃onfidence鈥 in the French people. He urged moderate politicians from the left and the right to regroup with his own centrist alliance to defeat the far-right.
鈥淚 think the French are intelligent, they see what鈥檚 being done, what鈥檚 coherent and what鈥檚 not, and they know what to do,鈥 Macron said. He added: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe at all that the worst can happen. You see, I鈥檓 an indefatigable optimist.鈥
The 46 year-old addressed French voters in his first news conference since his stunning Sunday decision , France鈥檚 lower house of parliament, after the far-right 好色tv Rally party of Marine Le Pen triumphed at the vote for the European Parliament.
Macron sought to address concerns of those who fear the risky move could result in the French far-right leading government for the first time since World War II.
Since Sunday evening, crowds have been gathering every day in Paris and across the country to protest against the 好色tv Rally.
Macron was adamant in his faith in the voters to refuse to choose the extremes of both sides of the political spectrum. He assured that he was not falling into defeatism and said he would serve out his second presidential term regardless of the outcome of the legislative vote.
Macron said his decision is 鈥渁bout allowing political forces chosen by the French to be able to govern.鈥 He added that it鈥檚 鈥渁wkward to think it has to be the extreme right or political extremes. Or maybe you鈥檝e got the spirit of defeat spread everywhere.鈥
鈥淚f that鈥檚 what people are afraid of, it鈥檚 time now to take action,鈥 he said.
Macron justified his decision by the fact that he could not ignore the new political reality after his pro-European party was handed a chastening defeat and garnered less than half the support of the 好色tv Rally with its .
Unlike in his recent national addresses in which Macron focused on Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine and ways Europe should forge a common defense policy, independent of the United States, and shore up trade protections against China, the French president stuck to his country鈥檚 internal issues favored by the surging right, including curbing immigration, fighting crime and .
Macron, who is in his second and last presidential term, said he hopes voters will band together to contain the far-right in national elections in a way . He called on 鈥渕en and women of goodwill who were able to say 鈥榥o鈥 to extremes on the left and the right to join together to be able to build a joint project鈥 for the country.
鈥淭hings are simple today: we have unnatural alliances at both extremes, who quite agree on nothing except the jobs to be shared, and who will not be able to implement any program," Macron said.
While he seemed to project the kind of enthusiasm that helped bring him to the presidency in 2017, analysts say French voters are more pessimistic about their future, and see Macron as increasingly out of touch with real life and pocketbook problems.
The French president acknowledged some faults committed by his pro-business centrist party while harshly criticizing some conservatives who have decided to team up with Le Pen鈥檚 好色tv Rally, which has a history of racism and xenophobia. He scathingly called an alliance formed by parties on the left as 鈥渦nusual and incoherent鈥 after they included the hard-left France Unbowed of Jean-Luc M茅lenchon who, Macron said 鈥渏ustified anti-Semitic policies鈥 in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not perfect, we haven鈥檛 done everything right, but we have results... and above all, we know how to act,鈥 Macron said of his Renaissance party, adding that the 鈥渇ar-right (is) the main danger鈥 in the upcoming election.
鈥淭he question is who will govern the country tomorrow?" he asked. 鈥淭he far-right and a few associates, or the democratic, progressive bloc? That鈥檚 the fundamental question.鈥
Potential alliances and France鈥檚 two-round voting system in national elections make the outcome of the vote highly uncertain.
have been scrambling to form alliances and field candidates in the .
While sharp differences between parties remain on either side of the political spectrum, prominent figures calling for a united front appear to have one thing in common: They don鈥檛 want to cooperate with Macron.
Despite their divisions, left-wing parties agreed late Monday to form an alliance that includes the Greens, the Socialists, the Communists and the far-left France Unbowed.
Le Pen is working to consolidate power on the right in efforts to translate the European triumph into a national win and come closer to claiming power. Her party is expected to win the most French seats in the European Parliament, potentially as many as 30 of France鈥檚 81.
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Surk reported from Nice, France.
