At 26 days from the first round, it was a debate that looked more like a great oral.
In the program
La France face à la guerre
, eight of the twelve presidential candidates, including Emmanuel Macron, confronted their ideas on Monday evening but one after the other, for the first major election evening largely devoted to the war in Ukraine.
Relations with Vladimir Poutine, place of Europe, energy, purchasing power, pensions: one by one, they shelled their proposals in a polished atmosphere, in this televised debate in an unprecedented format where the candidates never met or exchanged directly.
Macron sets his conditions
The opponents of Emmanuel Macron, who had previously imposed his conditions on TF1 by refusing a direct debate, especially took the opportunity to attack his action.
“What I am trying to do on behalf of France, but what we are trying to do as Europeans, is to try to stop this war without going to war,” argued the president-candidate.
Asked if he considered Putin a "dictator", he argued that "insulting or qualifying will not be the most effective".
He also intends to continue talking to her.
Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour, all three suspected of past collusion with the Russian president, also refused to comment, preferring the term "autocrat", unlike Anne Hidalgo, Valérie Pécresse and Yannick Jadot.
The latter also wants to “track Russian billionaires everywhere”.
He also advocated for an embargo on Russian gas and oil.
The issue of purchasing power
The candidates spoke at length about soaring fuel prices, the most immediate concrete consequence of the war for the French, and more generally about the defense of purchasing power, the number one concern of voters.
But Emmanuel Macron did not take the opportunity to announce new measures, emphasizing, with a smile on the corner of his lip, that “the candidate was preceded by the president and that is normal”.
He thus recalled that the government had already released 20 billion euros in favor of purchasing power, citing for example the inflation check.
Several candidates denounced the government's announcement of a discount at the pump of 15 centimes per liter from April 1, believing that it "comes too late", like Anne Hidalgo who even joked about a possible "April Fool's Day".
Jean-Luc Mélenchon pleaded for him to block prices at "1.30 euros or 1.40 euros at the pump".
The debate also revolved around pensions, Emmanuel Macron confirming his intention to push back the retirement age to 65, or even concerning energy savings and nuclear power where they displayed deep differences.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon thus insisted on the "danger" of civilian nuclear power in the event of war and Yannick Jadot on the need to get out of it, Anne Hidalgo defending a "mixed".
The others, including Fabien Roussel, defended nuclear power as an instrument of independence.
However, four candidates were not present on Monday evening.
Very low in the polls, Nathalie Arthaud, Philippe Poutou, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Jean Lassalle had not been invited.
A few days earlier, the latter had also denounced the fact of being treated as a “shitty and useless candidate”.
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Valerie Pécresse
Jean-Luc Melenchon
Eric Zemmour
Marine Le Pen
Emmanuel Macron
Presidential election 2022
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