Presidential hopefuls clash in fiery debate
FRENCH centrist Emmanuel Macron and his farright presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe on Wednesday in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country.
The duel ahead of Sunday’s election was billed as a confrontation between Macron’s call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen’s France-first nationalism.
The tone was set in the opening minutes, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister and investment banker “the candidate of the elite” and the “darling of the system”.
Macron replied that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was “the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades”, adding: “You play with fear.”
The 39-year-old frequently branded Le Pen a liar and even a “parasite of the system”, who he said lived off the frustrations of France’s blocked political system.
On Europe, Le Pen accused Macron of being “submissive” towards German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying: “France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel.”
She also accused Macron of an “indulgent attitude” towards Islamic fundamentalism and constantly sought to remind viewers of his role as a minister in unpopular President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government.
But Macron was in combative form throughout, repeatedly portraying Le Pen’s proposals as simplistic, defeatist or dangerous and targeting her proposals to particular.
Trailing in the polls, the debate was probably Le Pen’s last chance to change the dynamics of the race ahead of the final weekend of a long and unpredictable campaign.
A poll by the Elabe group for the BFM channel immediately afterwards showed that 63% of people interviewed found Macron the most convincing versus 34% for Le Pen. This broadly mirrors forecasts for Sunday’s vote. Macron would win around 59% to 41% if the vote were held now, surveys suggest, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have shifted public opinion.
In the first round of the election on April 23, Le Pen finished second scoring 21.3% after softening the FN’s image over the past six years – but without fully removing doubt about the party’s core beliefs.
She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation.
“I am the candidate of the people of France such as we love it, of the nation that protects jobs, security, our borders,” she said in her opening comments.
Hollande told reporters that “we shouldn’t think the result is a foregone conclusion” and urged Macron, his former adviser and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.
Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250 000 members in 12 months. — AFP withdraw France from the euro in