President of France

Five days before the first round of parliamentary elections in France the electoral debate is heating up, and as of noon today the first French people began

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou issued the presidential decree dissolving Parliament and officially calling for elections on June 25 on Monday. According to the decree, the resulting Parliament will convene on Monday, July 3.

The decree is also signed by caretaker prime minister Ioannis Sarmas and members of the caretaker ministerial cabinet.

Ioannis Sarmas, the president of the Court of Audit, will be appointed as the caretaker prime minister by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou after party leaders were unable to reach an agreement on forming a coalition government Wednesday.

Sarmas is expected to visit the Presidential Mansion at 1 p.m., where discussions will be held regarding the selection of interim ministers.

French President Emmanuel Macron's highly unpopular pension law passed another hurdle after the Constitutional Council rejected the opposition's second proposal to hold a referendum to limit the retirement age to 62, Reuters reported.

Macron has defied fierce union opposition and weeks of sometimes violent protests against his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The election campaign was formally lunched Saturday when the chief of Parliament police posted the presidential decree dissolving Parliament on one of the building's entrances.

Besides the date of the elections, May 21, the degree states that the new Parliament will be convened on Thursday, June 1.

A presidential decree was issued Friday accepting the resignation of Christos Tzanerikos, who was the vice president of the Supreme Court and the president of the A1 chamber of the court.

The A1 chamber is responsible for verifying the legality of political parties that participate in parliamentary elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron has given himself 100 days to get the country back on its feet after weeks of protests and public anger over raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

He asked the government to start talks with the unions on a wide range of issues.

The first meeting of the new parliament will be on Wednesday, April 12, announced the presidential administration.

The head of state signed the decree today on the basis of Art. 75 of the Constitution.

The deputies will gather in the National Assembly at 10:00 a.m.

The French government under President Emmanuel Macron has survived two no-confidence votes in parliament, but still faces intense pressure over a controversial pension reform, AFP reported.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Council of Ministers are obliged to table resignations at the first session of the new National Assembly. It will most likely be convened by the president a week after the results submitted by the Central Election Commission (CEC)are published in the State Gazette, said expert in constitutional law Prof. Plamen Kirov.