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The hot Macron-Le Pen TV debate: Who won the clash on TV

2022-04-21 15:03:10Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The hot Macron-Le Pen TV debate: Who won the clash on TV
Macron-Le Pen TV Debate

French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen clashed last night in a heated televised debate, four days before the presidential run-off.

Both Macron and Le Pen tried to be seen as reasonable and fair, but mutual attacks were added to the course of their two-and-a-half-hour duel.

Le Pen introduced herself as the middle class lawyer.

Macron, who is running for a second term, was often more active in the debate and also acknowledged mistakes and omissions in the previous term.

They discussed economic issues of interest to all, including purchasing power, wages and pensions. Macron announced increases in pensions and the minimum wage as well as a cap on gas and electricity prices.

Le Pen proposed lowering VAT on energy and eliminating taxes on 100 basic daily products.

When it came to the issue of pensions, which has been the subject of repeated debates in France, Le Pen insisted on keeping it until 62 years old. Le Pen said raising the retirement age to 65 was "absolutely intolerable"

"Retiring at age 65 is an absolute injustice," Le Pen said of Macron's plan for a higher retirement age.

Macron stressed that a pension from the age of 65 should not apply to all employees, except people in particularly hard work.

Russia's war in Ukraine

Russia's war in Ukraine was the second major issue of debate. Emmanuel Macron said Russia was "on a fatal path" and that the role of France and Europe was to provide Ukraine with military equipment and to accept refugees.

Le Pen, who has been criticized for her close ties to the Kremlin and for taking out a Russian bank loan for her party, warned that giving Ukraine weapons could make France a "comrade-in-arms". However, she supported her opponent's policy of supporting Ukraine and accepting refugees.

At this point, Macron launched the attack by stressing that she was one of the first political leaders in 2014 to recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

"You talk to your banker when you talk to Russia," he said.

Le Pen admitted she had taken Russian money as no French bank would lend to her party. When she argued that she had to borrow money like millions of French, he countered that the French were not seeking finance from Russia.

The hot Macron-Le Pen TV debate: Who won the clash on TV

European union

Macron stressed that France remains "anchored" in the European Union and reiterated its commitment to Franco-German cooperation.

He accused Le Pen of wanting to leave the EU, as he did during her 2017 presidential candidacy.

Le Pen replied that if he wanted to go out, he would say so.

"I want to stay in the European Union," she said. But she noted that she wants to change the EU.

Among other things, she defended the fact that French law takes precedence over EU law.

The hot Macron-Le Pen TV debate: Who won the clash on TV

Immigration and Islam

Marine Le Pen launched the attack by promising a referendum on who should stay and who should leave France and condemning what she called "anarchic and mass emigration" that is causing a sense of insecurity.

She then spoke about the ban on wearing the hijab in public, arguing that women should be freed from "Islamist pressure". Macron vehemently objected, saying that it was wrong to confuse Islam with Islamism and that its policy was unenforceable and a betrayal of French values: "We would have the police running down the street after girls in hijabs and boys in kipas." . According to him it would be intolerant that she was expelling millions of compatriots from public spaces because of their religion.

who won

Wednesday's televised appearance is the only time a pro-centrist and centrist like Macron and a Eurosceptic like Le Pen meet directly in this election.

Le Pen came out on top with 12 candidates in the first round of the presidential poll on April 10th.

Ahead of Sunday's run-off, Macron easily leads in opinion polls, at 55%, compared to Le Pen at 44%.

But the runoff is expected to be a closer race than five years ago, when the two candidates also faced each other.

Initial polls after the debate show Macron emerged victorious. "Two out of three viewers thought Macron was the most convincing candidate," according to a poll by the Elabe Institute.

Observers were eager to see if the two would exchange insults and personal attacks as they did in their last televised debate ahead of the 2017 presidential election.

The importance of the debate

Television clashes between the 2 main candidates have been a major point of the French presidential election for almost 5 decades. The recent debate attracted 16.5 million viewers so it could play a crucial role with undecided voters.

TV duels have proved more crucial when polling stations are close by. In 1974, the conservative Valéry Giscard d'Estaing managed to defeat the socialist François Mitterrand after he came out better in the debate between them. Mitterrand did better in the 1981 rematch and won the runoff.

This is the first time since the same candidates face off in two consecutive elections.

The 2017 debate was a disaster for Le Pen and she was defeated in the runoff, winning only a third of the vote.

This time the race is much tighter and a strong performance by Ms. Le Pen could attract a large portion of undecided voters. Le Pen interrupted her campaign Monday to focus on the debate.

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