The first secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Olivier Faure, protested, Saturday May 18, in a letter to the audiovisual regulator Arcom, the organization on May 23 of a debate on France 2 between Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella, seeing it as “fundamental democratic problem” less than three weeks before the European elections.
“A debate organized for the European elections cannot be reduced in our country to a confrontation between the right and the extreme right, effectively excluding any representation of left-wing groups”wrote Olivier Faure in a letter to the president of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), Roch-Olivier Maistre, of which Agence France-Presse (AFP) had a copy and which had been revealed by Release.
In support of his referral to Arcom, Olivier Faure observes that the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, “is not a candidate for the European election, and that he replaces the head of the Renaissance list”, Valérie Hayer, to face the president of the National Rally (RN), head of her party’s list and very large favorite in the polls.
Italian broadcast regulator cancels debate involving Giorgia Meloni
“Disregarding equal treatment and respect for political pluralism two weeks before a major political election, the debate organized by France 2 poses a fundamental democratic problem”writes the boss of the PS, whose joint list with Place publique led by Raphaël Glucksmann is third in the polls.
He asks Arcom to implement its “regulatory power to ensure respect for the pluralist expression of political debate, and hence the sincerity of the vote on June 9”. The regulatory authority sent a letter on Friday to the president of France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, in which she considered that this debate was “likely to compromise compliance with the rules which apply to the handling of the campaign for the European elections”.
The regulator asked France Télévisions to inform it of the “provisions that the channel intends to implement to guarantee other lists of candidates full respect for fair presentation and access to its broadcast”according to the text of this letter that AFP obtained.
Olivier Faure also bases his referral on the cancellation in Italy of a debate scheduled for May 23 on public television RAI between the head of government, Giorgia Meloni, and the leader of the opposition, Elly Schlein. The Italian regulator had recalled that equal treatment must be offered to all parties in the run-up to the European elections.