[News] French election: Macron and Le Pen to clash in TV presidential debate

[Mr.Talha]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61166601

 

 

Four days before France votes on its next president, the two remaining candidates go head to head in their only televised debate.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has fallen behind Emmanuel Macron in the opinion polls but millions of voters are still undecided.

For two and a half hours they will take part in Wednesday night's duel in the hope of gaining an advantage.

Mr Macron emerged as clear winner in 2017 and went on to become president.

Although he won the first round of the vote 10 days ago, more than half of the electorate backed either far-right or far-left candidates.

The burning issue for voters has been France's spiralling cost of living and that is bound to play a big part in the debate, broadcast on the two biggest TV networks. It has also been a successful focus of Marine Le Pen's campaign.

 

 

Televised confrontations between the top two candidates have been a highlight of French presidential elections for almost five decades. The last debate attracted 16.5 million viewers so it could play a crucial role with undecided voters.

The TV duels have proved most decisive when the polls are close. In 1974, conservative Valéry Giscard d'Estaing went on to beat Socialist François Mitterrand after performing well in their debate. Mitterrand did better in the rematch in 1981 and won the run-off vote.

And this is the first time since then that the same candidates square off in two consecutive elections.

The 2017 debate was a disaster for Ms Le Pen, who appeared exhausted and unfocused in front of a confident and articulate Emmanuel Macron. He was already well ahead in the polls and trounced his far-right opponent by securing two-thirds of the vote.

This time around it will be a much closer race and a strong performance by Ms Le Pen could win over a big section of undecided voters. She has halted her campaign since Monday to concentrate on the debate and her rival may not have the easy ride of five years ago.