Policeman’s killing may sway election
A gunman’s attack on the officer on Thursday is likely to influence the presidential poll in France tomorrow. Terrorism, which had not been a key issue, could aid the campaign of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, Foreign Correspondent Colin Randall repor
Until the final few days before tomorrow’s first round of the French presidential election, terrorism had barely figured as a polarising issue.
But that changed dramatically as candidates reacted to the killing of a police officer on the Champs- Elysees in Paris on Thursday night, and the arrests in Marseilles on Tuesday of two men suspected of planning an attack on the campaign.
Previously, allegations of corruption, extremist left-wing and right- wing policies and fake news – along with the candidates’ competing programmes – had dominated debate.
But this week’s major security alerts have again focused attention on France’s response to the threat of terrorism.
The country remains under the state of emergency declared by the socialist president Francois Hollande after the massacres in Paris on the night of November 13, 2015.
The latest attack led Marine Le Pen, the far-right Front National candidate, to return to her theme of decrying what she calls a weak government approach to the threat.
She called for the expulsion of those listed in “Fiche S”, a French intelligence file of dangerous individuals.
“For 10 years, under governments of right and left, we have been doing all we can to lose the war [on terrorism],” Ms Le Pen said. France was targeted “not for what it does but for what it is”.
She wants all foreigners suspected of religious radicalism to be deported immediately, while steps to strip French citizenship from people with dual nationalities should be accelerated to allow their removal. Those demands spurred French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve to accuse her yesterday of seeking to exploit public fear.
Conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon said that the state of emergency would have to continue for some time. But he promised to tackle extremism with an “iron hand” if elected.
“We are engaged in a long-term war,” Mr Fillon said. “The enemy is powerful, its resources are numerous and its accomplices live among us, by our side.”
At the other end of the political spectrum, Philippe Poutou, the far-left fringe candidate, blamed French politics for the attack on police in Paris. France bore its share of responsibility by discriminating against people living in poor suburbs because of “their skin colour or origins”, taking military action in Africa and the Middle East and selling arms to dictatorships, he said. Emmanuel Macron, the centrist candidate who led Ms Le Pen in the final opinion polls allowed under French law be- fore voting begins, cancelled two meetings “out of decency”.
He also pledged to rise to the security challenges of the presidency and accused those responsible for such attacks of wanting “death, symbolism, to sow panic, to disrupt the democratic process”.
Mr Hollande said his government and security forces would show “absolute vigilance” in protecting the elections.
If the opinion polls are accurate, tomorrow’s election could lead to any two of the four leading candidates, ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right, qualifying for the May 7 decider.
With only six points separat- ing the front runners, no candidate seems capable of winning an outright majority that would make a second round needless.
But the outcome could still be swayed by the 30 to 40 per cent of eligible electors estimated to be undecided or intending to abstain from voting.
In the final survey before further polling was forbidden for the last few days of the firstround campaign, Mr Macron – a former socialist minister who has support from the left, right and centre – was ahead on 25 per cent, three percentage points ahead of Ms Le Pen.
Three percentage points behind her, on 19 per cent, Mr Fillon was tied with Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is significantly to the left of the departing Mr Hollande and his Socialist party.
Although the mainstream socialists have held the presidency since Mr Hollande’s victory in 2012, and also have a majority in parliament, their official candidate, Benoit Hamon, has been reduced to a fringe contender by the rise of Mr Macron and Mr Melenchon and the party’s deep divisions.
Many in France also seem unconvinced that any candidate has credible remedies for unemployment, low purchasing power and the national debt.
Until he was accused of paying his family members more than €900,000 (Dh3.5 million) from public funds for little or no work as assistants, Mr Fillon was the clear favourite.
Before slipping behind Mr Macron in the final polls, Ms Le Pen seemed certain to reach the runoff and the last surveys still put her in second place. Her hard stance on security will do her no harm after this week’s events.
All forecasts suggest she would be beaten by whoever stood against her in the run-off, even if her rival was Mr Melenchon, whose rhetoric has rallied many socialist voters.