He reproaches the far-right candidate in the debate for her party asking Moscow for a loan for the 2017 election campaign “which has not yet been returned”
Outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen faced each other last night in a single presidential debate, after a strange electoral campaign, overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and which has not particularly excited the French.
Two candidates. Two visions of France, Europe and the world. A debate of two and a half hours to four days of the presidential elections. After a firm handshake on the set before the debate began, the candidates addressed eight topics: from the loss of purchasing power to international news, including retirement, immigration, the environment and education.
“I will be the president of freedom, sovereignty and security” and, above all, “of harmony restored among all French people, of justice, of national fraternity and of civil peace,” said Le Pen, who was the first to speak.
Macron, for his part, defended his record as president. “I think we can make our country more independent and stronger. We can and must improve the daily life» of the French, assured the candidate of La República en Marcha. The outgoing president was convinced that France can be “a great ecological power of the 21st century” and highlighted a “stronger” European Union.
The Ukrainian war was present before and during the debate. Macron himself accused his opponent on Wednesday of “depending on Russian power and Mr. Putin” since his National Regroupment party requested a loan from a Moscow bank for the 2017 election campaign that “has not yet been returned.”
Just this Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Le Pen has to admit that she was wrong in her analysis of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine so that they improve their relations with kyiv. Although Zelenski said that he did not want to influence the campaign, he added that he has “good relations” with Macron and that “he does not want to lose them.”
The Elysée candidates addressed topics such as retirement, immigration, the environment and international news
It was not the first time that Macron and Le Pen debated. They already did it in the presidential elections of 2017. Exhausted after an intense electoral campaign and little prepared against a Macron who controlled the dossiers well, Le Pen then lost the clash. Last night he was looking for revenge.
Macron, who showed off his proven experience in dealing with crises in the face of the far-right’s inexperience, hopes to be able to convince voters to re-elect him on Sunday for another five-year term.
The far-right candidate, who presents herself as “the purchasing power candidate”, is confident that this debate will allow her to come back in the polls and win the elections. If she did, she would make history. She would be the first female president of France and the first from the extreme right.
thirteen point lead
Before this television face-to-face, the outgoing president had slightly increased his lead in the polls over his rival. Macron was 13 points ahead of Le Pen in voting intention, according to the latest barometer carried out by the Ipsos-Sopra Steria polling institute for ‘FranceInfo’ and the newspaper ‘Le Parisien’.
The candidate of La República en Marcha would obtain 56.5% of the votes in the second round of the French presidential elections, compared to 43.5% for the far-right, according to this poll. Five years ago, Macron defeated Le Pen at the polls by 66.1% to 33.9% of the vote.
The debate could, however, tip the balance one way or the other, as many voters are still undecided. Of the twelve candidates who presented themselves in the first round, ten were eliminated. According to the French electoral system, only the two most voted go to the second round. Macron and Le Pen managed to qualify by obtaining 27.6 and 23.4% of the vote, respectively.
The two finalists are trying these days to convince the French who did not vote for them in the first round to do so this Sunday. While Le Pen tries to attract the anti-Macron vote, the outgoing president urges the French to vote for him to prevent the extreme right from coming to power in France. The polls will have the last word.
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