Reuters
Paris, May 4: Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron clashed over their vision of France’s future, the euro and ways of fighting terrorism in an ill-tempered televised debate on Wednesday before Sunday’s run-off vote for the presidency.
The two went into the debate with opinion polls showing Macron, 39, with a strong lead of 20 percentage points over the National Front’s Le Pen, 48, in what is widely seen as France’s most important election in decades.
For Le Pen, the two-and-a-half hour debate, watched by millions, was a last major chance to persuade voters of the merits of her programme which includes cracking down on illegal immigration, ditching the euro single currency and holding a referendum on EU membership.
However, 63 percent of viewers found Macron more convincing than Le Pen in the debate, according to a snap opinion poll by Elabe for BFMTV, reinforcing his status as favourite to win the Elysee Sunday.
In angry exchanges, Le Pen played up Macron’s background as a former investment banker and economy minister, painting him as heir to the outgoing unpopular Socialist government and as the “candidate of globalisation gone wild.”
He savaged her flagship policy of abandoning the euro, calling it a fatal plan that would unleash a currency war, and he accused her of failing to offer solutions to France’s economic problems such as chronic unemployment.
The sharpest exchange was over national security, a sensitive issue in a country where more than 230 people have been killed by Islamist militants since 2015.
Le Pen accused Macron of being complacent in confronting Islamist fundamentalism. “You have no plan (on security) but you are indulgent with Islamist fundamentalism,” she said.
Macron retorted that terrorism would be his priority if he is elected and accused Le Pen of offering false solutions.
“I will lead a fight against Islamist terrorism at every level. But what they are wanting, the trap they are holding out for us, is the one that you offer – civil war,” he said.
Macron attacked Le Pen’s flagship policy of scrapping the euro to return to the franc, pressing Le Pen on how this would work in practice and accusing her of “fiddling” and “a crass lack of preparation” on the issue.
Leaving the euro would be a “a fatal plan and a dangerous plan”, Macron said. “What you propose is currency war.”
Le Pen accused Macron of launching “project fear” over her plans. “The euro is the currency of bankers, not that of the people,” she said.
OPPOSING VISIONS
The two candidates, seated opposite one another at a table in the television studios, offered diametrically opposed visions for France. Macron calls for liberal reforms to kickstart the French economy, while Le Pen would adopt protectionist trade measures to defend French jobs.
Frederic Dabi, an analyst with pollsters Ifop, said the debate was “extraordinarily violent, bitter (and) harsh”.
“Le Pen’s strategy was to push Macron into making a mistake, but she didn’t really succeed,” he told Reuters.