Overview

• The expiry of Article 12’s one-year ban next week restores Macron’s constitutional right to call new legislative elections.
• A Sud Ouest poll shows 50% of French citizens back a snap dissolution and 56% want François Bayrou’s government toppled by censure.
• President Macron has publicly denied planning another dissolution and insists he will invoke it only if lawmakers bring the country to a standstill.
• François Bayrou’s administration faces a looming motion of censure on the autumn budget, recalling the vote that ousted Michel Barnier last year.
• Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National and La France Insoumise are both demanding early elections despite the president’s reluctance.