PARIS (Reuters) – On the eve of a debate deemed decisive for the second round of the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron’s camp was cautious on Tuesday, judging that “the match is not over”, while the close to his opponent, Marine Le Pen, were trying to ward off the burning memory of the 2017 televised duel.
On May 3, 2017, the candidate of the National Rally, opposed for the second round to Emmanuel Macron, then “simple” candidate of En Marche, had accumulated missteps in this perilous exercise, losing up to three points in the intentions of vote according to an Elabe poll taken after the debate.
François Hollande’s former economy minister won with 66.10% of the vote against 33.90% for Marine Le Pen.
The polls predict a tighter outcome for April 24 but systematically place Emmanuel Macron as a favorite.
“I don’t have any form of concern, but looking at what is happening I think that nothing is settled and that the idea that the match is over should not be drawn from the figures”, declared on France Inter the Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
Same warning from the side of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, in an interview with Figaro published on Tuesday: “Nothing seems to me to be played because many unknowns weigh on the ballot, starting with abstention”.
According to a consultation of some 300,000 “Rebellious” who had validated the candidacy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon online, 66.61% chose the blank or null vote, or abstention, for April 24. They are 33.40% to say they want to vote for the outgoing president, who is trying with difficulty to rally part of the electorate on the left.
“Returning Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron back to back is irresponsible,” said Edouard Philippe.
“THE FEAR”
In a campaign video broadcast by BFM TV, the candidate supported by the RN denounces the “fear blackmail” exercised according to her by her opponent.
“Fear is indeed the only argument left to the current President of the Republic to try to maintain himself at all costs, thus extending a mandate during which our freedoms will have suffered greatly”, says Marine Le Pen.
“Fear, as a paralyzing spring, as a desperate means of preventing you from thinking and choosing in your soul and conscience”, she adds to the address of the voters before assuring them that “what they do not understand by trying to pass off the immense popular aspiration that I carry for a danger for the Republic, it is that you are not children”.
This denunciation of alleged fear blackmail recalls the arguments of Brexit supporters in the United Kingdom before the June 2016 referendum, when they reproached the supporters of remaining in the European Union for scaring voters about the supposed consequences. of their vote.
Also striving to reassure, Jean Castex reaffirmed on Tuesday morning that the pension reform wanted by Emmanuel Macron, a point of tension for a large part of the voters in this between-two-rounds, would be the subject of an adaptation ” on the method”, without denying it.
“No, we will not retire at 65” at the end of the next five-year term, he assured, while the outgoing president has committed to a gradual postponement to 65 of the legal retirement age. retired.
“PROJECT AGAINST PROJECT”
“What is proposed on the pension reform is not necessarily likely to seduce the voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon”, conceded on Europe 1 the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire.
At the National Rally (RN), we are assured that Marine Le Pen has “worked a lot and mastered the subjects” for Wednesday’s debate.
“It must embody the function. We must find the bases of the Fifth Republic. We must find a solemnity of the function that does not embody Mr. Macron”, said the mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, on France 2.
He said he hoped “it will be solemn, serious, argument against argument, project against project”.
Marine Le Pen has always admitted having “missed” the exercise in 2017 and having learned the lessons.
“The debate in the second round of the 2017 presidential election was a failure for which I paid a very heavy price,” she confided last March to France Télévisions.
Analysts point out that Emmanuel Macron will be in a less comfortable situation this time around, as he is now accountable for a balance sheet.
Among the themes that will likely be discussed, the acting president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, confirmed on Tuesday on franceinfo that the ban on wearing the Islamic veil in public space remained a priority for the candidate. “There are areas in which it is a priority,” he said, citing the administration and companies.
“I believe that the law to ban the veil is necessary, first of all to free women. I believe that the veil will fall when Islamism is banned in France. We must move towards this eradication of the Islamist veil”, added the deputy of the North Sébastien Chenu on Public Senate.
(Written by Sophie Louet and Marc Angrand)