The three main candidates face off in the first major debate ahead of France’s snap parliamentary elections next week. According to polls, the far-right Rassemblement Nationale party, led by Marine Le Pen, a perennial opponent of President Emmanuel Macron, is leading so far, Bloomberg reports.
Days before the first round of legislative voting, centre-right Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella and Manuel Bompard of the left-wing New Popular Front alliance shared their plans to address the country’s purchasing power, improve public services and the environment.
Often attacking and interrupting each other, the leaders tried to emphasise their differences. Attal tried to defend his government’s achievements, Bardella focused on his party’s hardline stance on immigration, crime and security, while Bompard promoted the left’s plan to lower the retirement age and raise taxes on the rich.
The snap election, called after President Emmanuel Macron’s party was defeated in European Parliament elections a fortnight ago, comes as a key turning point for the country as polls show his party will lose its majority in government. Most polls show the far-right National Rally in the lead, with the left-wing Alliance in second place and Macron’s group in third.
The opponents have constantly attacked each other’s premise, calculations and credibility. Attal said the others’ programmes “promise the moon” and “destroy jobs.” Bardella accused Bompard of pursuing a Cuban-style economic model, and the leftist called his rivals dishonest.
Pension age debate as a boiling point
The debate became heated when the three contestants broached the subject of the retirement age, which Macron – an unpopular move that sparked riots – raised to 64 from 62. Attal defended Macron’s decision, Bompard vowed to reverse it and Bardella said he would change it by setting what he called a “pivotal” age of 62.
Attal and Bardella promised not to raise taxes, while Bompard said taxes would be raised for people earning more than 4,000 euros (4,285) a month.
They also argued on immigration, while staying in line with their broad political views. While Attal attacked Bardella for questioning the Frenchness of dual nationals, Bardella said he would “take back control of immigration.” Bompard reminded Bardella of his Italian origins. Marine Le Pen, a spokeswoman for the Rassemblement Nationale, told France 2 television on Wednesday morning:
“In these legislative elections, we are constantly focused on micro-measures in all the TV and radio programmes, so I think it’s difficult for people to see the main contours, the big vision related to their choice.”
She said, turning to one of the nationalist party’s key talking points:
“Do we want, for example, as much immigration as we have today, in that case you have to choose the government, do you want 10 times as much, in that case you have to vote for the Popular Front, or do you want much less, in that case you have to vote for the National Rally.”
The debate was the first of two such live events – the next is scheduled for Thursday evening – ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday. The second round is scheduled for July 7.
