French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen will face off in a high-stakes televised debate on Wednesday that is likely to prove the high point of a turbulent presidential campaign – with millions of votes still up for grabs just days before polls open for a final round of voting on Sunday. Watch the debate live on FRANCE 24 at 8:45pm Paris time (GMT+2).
The centrist incumbent and his far-right rival will face off starting at 9pm (7pm GMT), a rematch of their 2017 debate that was widely seen as disastrous for Le Pen.
But this time Macron will not be the outsider making his first run at public office – he will have a complicated, at times controversial, five-year record to defend against an untested challenger who has tried to soften her more extremist views to present a more mainstream image.
Recent polls give Macron the advantage, at 53 to 56 percent against 44 to 47 percent for Le Pen, who is making her third run for the presidency. But analysts say turnout could still sharply sway the final result.
Participation in the first round of voting was just 74 percent, lower than the recent average for a French presidential election.
Moreover, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon scored nearly 22 percent in the first round – just slightly less than Le Pen – and he has refused to urge his supporters to vote for Macron to keep the far right from the presidency.
Which way his left-leaning supporters choose to vote on Sunday could prove crucial – and many of them have already expressed a visceral rejection of Macron's policies.
Looking ahead to parliamentary elections in June, Mélenchon called on his supporters on Tuesday to vote for his La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party and make him prime minister, expressing hope for a left-wing alliance that would deny either Macron or Le Pen a majority.
"I will be prime minister, not because Macron or Le Pen want it, but because the French will have elected me," he told BFM television.
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Different world views
Wednesday's debate, the only one Macron has agreed to in this year's race, will be watched by millions and has often proved pivotal in determining the choices of last-minute voters.
Macron's allies have warned him of any complacency, not least amid Le Pen's persistent attacks against the former investment banker as the aloof "president of the rich", out of touch with people's everyday concerns at a time of rising inflation and economic insecurity.
Many have criticised Macron for selling himself as a centrist but then governing from the right.
Macron will likely seek to portray Le Pen as a fringe politician who cannot be trusted on foreign policy – especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, given her past support for President Vladimir Putin.
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He is also likely to take aim at her plans to give priority to French citizens for jobs or welfare benefits.
Le Pen has also promised a crackdown on immigration in the wake of the string of jihadist terror attacks that have struck France since 2015, killing more than 100.
For her part, the far-right leader will zero in on Macron's unpopular proposal to push back the retirement age – currently at 62, although in recent days he has wavered on whether it should be raised to 64 or 65.
She also wants to restore French "sovereignty" by reducing the European Union's influence on national affairs, while Macron is expected to continue championing integration and strong French leadership of the bloc.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
