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00:00 Emmanuel Macron's role of the dice has been described as one of the biggest gambles in
00:04 French political history.
00:06 And the stakes are massive.
00:09 This election will have the most far-reaching consequences for France and the French people
00:13 in the history of the fifth republic.
00:17 According to media reports, a tiny circle of advisers spent months working on the high-stakes
00:22 plan.
00:23 By putting it into action, it could draw attention away from his crushing electoral defeat in
00:28 the European elections, focusing minds on the upcoming battle for the National Assembly.
00:35 Analysts say Macron is moving to reclaim the initiative by calling the national rallies
00:40 bluff and forcing it into an election faster than it had hoped.
00:44 So what are the possible outcomes?
00:47 This is the scenario that Emmanuel Macron would like to see.
00:49 A snap election that jolts voters of different political persuasions into rallying around
00:54 a mainstream candidate to halt the gains of the far-right.
00:57 It's a very risky gamble.
01:00 The so-called republican vote against the far-right has been largely eroded.
01:04 At these elections, they even gained new voters.
01:08 Another possibility is that no one party wins anything near a majority, leading to a messy
01:13 parliament for the next three years and making it even harder to pass legislation.
01:19 But there's another possible outcome - sweeping far-right gains.
01:23 It could lead to what's called cohabitation in France, when the president is forced to
01:27 appoint a prime minister from the political opposition because it's the only candidate
01:32 capable of winning the backing of the National Assembly.