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Presidential candidates square up in debate

By CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-04-22 09:30
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France's President Emmanuel Macron faces Marine Le Pen, the far-right Rassemblement National party's candidate in the presidential election, during Wednesday's TV debate. LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/REUTERS

Macron and Le Pen in last attempt to woo voters as election day draws near

France's President Emmanuel Macron clashed on Wednesday evening with far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the final debate before Sunday's second-round runoff vote in the presidential election; sparring on everything from pension reform and the free market to relations with the European Union and Russia.

Le Pen has fallen behind Macron in opinion polls but millions of voters remain undecided.

Macron, a centrist, attacked Le Pen's stance toward the EU and her policy of "national preference" which would see France pull out of the EU's energy market and that would seek to establish the supremacy of French law over EU law, a policy that would trigger a head-on collision with the EU.

"Your plan is to leave the EU. You're lying about what's on offer. Europe is a joint ownership property, you cannot decide on your own to paint the façade with gloss," Macron said in a debate that lasted two hours and 45 minutes and ended shortly before midnight.

Le Pen, a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017, explained that she wants to remain in the EU but "deeply modify" it to bring about a "European alliance of nations".

She accused Macron of embodying the EU's free-trade model and not protecting French farmers and consumers against food products flooding in other parts of the bloc.

Macron defended himself by saying he is opposed to a trade agreement between the EU and South America's Mercosur countries because of environmental concerns.

The two candidates have both promised during recent campaigning to protect French farmers and consumers against imports of agrifood products.

Le Pen described herself as a "spokesperson for the French" after seeing their "suffering" and general "precariousness" during the past five years, which referred to Macron's first term that began in 2017.

She attacked the government's performance by citing public grievances that triggered the widespread Yellow Vest movement across the country.

Macron said recent years have seen "unprecedented crises", including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He said he wants to "make our country more independent and stronger through its economy, through work, through research, innovation, through its culture".

Macron defended his unpopular decision to push back the age of retirement, to 64 or 65, while Le Pen said she would keep it between 60 and 62 years old. She has portrayed herself as the defender of French workers in a bid to win more blue-collar votes.

"My project is clearly different from Mr Macron's project, who wants to get everyone working until 65 years old," Le Pen said. "It's an absolutely unbearable injustice."

On high energy prices, Macron attacked Le Pen's plan to reduce VAT on energy from 20 percent to 5.5 percent.

"You never explain how you finance the projects. You are not honest with people," Macron said.

He also attacked his opponent for pushing the nation toward "civil war" by wishing to implement a ban on the Muslim headscarf known as the hijab in public places.

While Le Pen said Macron hosted and met Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Macron fought back by saying "when you speak to Russia, you are not speaking to any foreign leader, you are talking to your banker", referring to her taking a loan from a Russian bank.

Mujtaba Rahman, managing director of the Europe at Eurasia Group and a former official of the European Commission, said in a tweet on Thursday: "Last night's French presidential election debate was far from the 2017 walkover but Macron, harrying and interrupting, threw the far-right leader off her stride."

He cited an Elabe poll on Thursday that showed 59 percent of voters now support Macron, compared to 39 percent backing Le Pen.

The candidates have two days left to appeal to voters because Saturday will be a day of calm, with no campaigning allowed under the law.

Macron was expected to meet voters in the north of Paris on Thursday while Le Pen was due to attend a rally in the northern city of Arras.

Agencies contributed to the story.

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