French parties clash in election debate ahead of general elections

Five days before Sunday's first round of the French early general elections, the incumbent prime minister in his 30s and the representative of a far-right party in his 20s competed in a TV debate. It was a heated discussion over tax cuts and immigration policy, but the weaknesses of both sides were revealed. The far right simply repeated unrealistic populist promises, and the prime minister failed to come up with a clear alternative.

The prevailing view in France is that the far-right party is likely to win a landslide victory in the general elections, increasing the possibility that centrist President Emmanuel Macron and the new far-right prime minister will form a ‘heterogeneous government.’ There are concerns both inside and outside France that “many policies may be at risk and economic chaos may increase, and a euro crisis may occur following the French general elections.”

The three-party debate between political party representatives hosted by French broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday was a stage for the younger generation, not even one participant was over 40. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (age 35) of the centrist ruling party Renaissance, Jordan Bardella (age 29), leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), and lawmaker Manuel Bompard (age 38) of the left-wing coalition France Unbowed (LFI) consistently carried out the debate.

Locals view the TV debate, which had high expectations to be a clash between young star politicians, as more disappointing than expected. French daily Le Monde pointed out that “the critical core issues were not properly addressed.” There were also favorable reviews that Rep. Bompard, who had been dismissed as a supporting actor, expressed his views with calmness.

In the French general elections, if no candidate receives a majority in each region in the first round of voting on Sunday, the winner is the person with the most votes in the second round of voting, scheduled on July 7. According to a recent opinion poll, RN is expected to take first place with 35% of the approval rating, and the New Popular Front (NFP), a coalition of four left-wing parties, is expected to take second place with 27%. Renaissance, the ruling party, is expected to be only 20%. Since it is common for the party leader with the most seats to be recommended as prime minister, the possibility of a cohabitation government consisting of “centrist president and far-right prime minister,” unprecedented in French political history, has grown higher.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com