Presidential in France: these key moments which marked 50 years of debates between the two rounds
Combination made on April 24, 2007 of four photos of the television debates of the French presidential campaign of the second round opposing, at the top, from left, the right-wing candidate Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (L) and the socialist François Mitterrand in 1974 and 1981. Below, from left to right: the right-wing candidate Jacques Chirac and François Mitterrand in 1988, and the socialist Lionel Jospin and Jacques Chirac in 1995. © AFP
Text by: Fabien Leboucq
10 mins
This Wednesday, April 20, the traditional debate between the two rounds of the French presidential election takes place.
Back to the eight that preceded it.
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Since 1974, almost all the finalists for the election to the supreme office have lent themselves to this television and radio exercise.
Presented by two journalists, this two to three hour long exchange often marks the high point of the electoral campaign.
Without systematically having a decisive impact, it always brings together millions of French people in front of the post.
May 10, 1974: 25 million viewers
For the first time, a televised debate is organized between the two candidates, the socialist François Mitterrand and the center-right candidate Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
The latter, younger and more agile in front of the cameras, wins the duel.
François Mitterrand later admitted to director Serge Moati that he had considered his performance "
catastrophic
", reports the
Journal du Dimanche
.
The former Minister of the Economy of Georges Pompidou uses all the stratagems to destabilize the socialist: when Mitterrand speaks economy, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing plunges the glance in his sheets, the disapproving air.
It gives viewers the impression that the Socialist Party candidate is wrong in his presentation.
In reality, the sheets are blank, but Mitterrand's team only realizes this at the end of the debate.
Annoyed when the centrist asked him about the course of the deutschemark (the German currency at the time), the socialist replied: "
I don't like these manners very much, I am not your pupil and you are not the president. of the Republic here, you are merely my opponent.
»
But as long as it's a question of economy and growth, it's VGE that takes over.
Especially when, during an exchange on the distribution of growth, he contradicts François Mitterrand and hits him with the famous “
You don't have a monopoly on the heart
”.
When it comes to the results of the first round of the presidential election, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing evokes Clermont-Ferrand, a city in central France "
that you know and who knows you well
".
A discreet but direct allusion to the secret double life of François Mitterrand: his mistress Anne Pingeot is from Clermont-Ferrand.
A few months later, in December, Mazarine was born, the daughter of the future president and the art historian.
May 5, 1981: 30 million viewers
We take the same and start again.
But this time, Mitterrand knows his adversary and his methods, even if he "does
n't want to go
," director Serge Moati told
franceinfo
.
The socialist and his team therefore propose 21 rules to frame the debate, accepted by the teams of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Cutaways are prohibited: only the candidate speaking should appear on the screen;
the journalists who supervise the service do not work at the ORTF (French broadcasting and television office), controlled by the government;
the lighting is calibrated...
All the precautions taken by François Mitterrand to appear to his advantage during the debate are coupled with great preparation on the part of the socialist.
Like VGE in the previous financial year, it resorts to unscrupulous procedures.
Like when he puts on his table a file whose title refers to the diamonds of Bokassa, named after the Central African emperor who would have offered precious stones to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing when he was Minister of the Economy.
The centrist is particularly disconcerted, especially since he does not know that the file is empty.
The successor of Georges Pompidou is tired by seven years of power.
The only notable projections are to the credit of François Mitterrand: "
You tend to take up the refrain of seven years ago, "the man of the past",
remarks the socialist when he addresses Valéry Giscard d' Estaing.
It's all the same boring that in the meantime you have become the passive man.
»
April 28, 1988: 30 million viewers
Rarely has a presidential debate, which for the first time lasted more than two hours, been so tense, most observers still note today.
According to journalist Alain Duhamel, quoted by
Le
Journal du Dimanche
in 2012, it was "
the most nasty, the most dramatized, the most personalized
" of all the presidential debates.
In question: the animosity between the President of the Republic François Mitterrand and his Prime Minister for two years, the candidate of the right, Jacques Chirac.
The socialist insisted that the debate table which separates the debaters be 170 centimeters.
This is precisely the size of his office at the Elysée, the one in front of which, every Wednesday, Jacques Chirac comes to sit down to prepare the Council of Ministers with the President.
Even if the right-wing candidate tries to ignore symbols, his aura as head of government does not equal that of the head of state.
It is therefore in a position of strength, and comfortably installed in his presidential role, that François Mitterrand leads the exchanges.
When Jacques Chirac, echoing the socialist's remarks during the previous debate, declared: “
I am not the Prime Minister, and you are not the President of the Republic, we are two candidates on an equal footing […], you will therefore allow me to call you Mr. Mitterrand
”, the person concerned retorts laconically: “
But you are absolutely right, Mr. Prime Minister.
»
May 2, 1995: 16.7 million viewers
The debate between Jacques Chirac and the socialist candidate Lionel Jospin is more calm than the previous ones, less offensive.
The two men, however, are torn about the balance sheet of the Mitterrandian presidencies.
Cutting plans, banned by Robert Badinter, then adviser to François Mitterrand in 1981, are making a comeback.
Lionel Jospin attacks Jacques Chirac on the length of the presidential term, which he wants to reduce from seven to five years.
“
By kidding
”, the socialist tackles the candidate of the right: “
Better is worth five years with Jospin than seven years with Jacques Chirac.
It would be very long.
“A statement that is not without making the favorite and future winner of this election smile.
2002: no debate
Jacques Chirac refuses to give credit to the extreme right and does not agree to debate with Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The outgoing president refuses to support “
the trivialization of hatred and intolerance.
“Through the media, the founder of the National Front denounces a “
pitiful evasion
”.
May 22, 2007: 20.4 million viewers
Between the Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy and the socialist Ségolène Royal, the rag burns for more than two and a half hours.
On the issue of disabled children, the first woman to enter the second round of the presidential election wins.
To Nicolas Sarkozy who accuses him of "
losing his nerves
", and who affirms that "
to be president, you have to be calm
", she retorts: "
I haven't lost my nerves, I am angry and there is very healthy, very useful angers.
»
In fact, Ségolène Royal falls into the trap set by her opponent: she tries to get Nicolas Sarkozy out of his hinges and is very offensive, but she is unable to destabilize him.
The UMP candidate criticizes this tactic with mischief: “
You don't need to be contemptuous to be brilliant.
“And the socialist to answer:”
I am not contemptuous, I know your techniques.
As soon as you are embarrassed, you pose as a victim.
»
Note that for the first time in between two rounds of the presidential election, the winner Ségolène Royal offers the third man, François Bayrou a debate.
With this initiative, the socialist hopes to flirt with part of the centrist electorate.
The debate is conducted in a very courteous manner.
May 2, 2012: 17.8 million viewers
“
Which president do you intend to be?
asks journalist Laurence Ferrari to François Hollande to close the debate, which lasted almost three hours.
The socialist then launches into a tirade of more than three minutes.
More than fifteen times, he repeats these words: "
Me, President of the Republic...
" He depicts and criticizes, in hollow, the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy because he wants to propose the antithesis.
This anaphora (rhetorical process which consists of repeating the same words several times at the beginning of a sentence) has inspired film titles and songs, and remains one of the most striking sentences in the history of French presidential debates.
Afterwards, François Hollande confides that he thought that Nicolas Sarkozy was going to interrupt him.
Some have pointed out that he could have simply cut it off by saying, “
But for that, you would have to be elected.
“Except that the outgoing president does nothing, and the socialist takes place.
Although Hollande's campaign team initially suggests the
opposite
, the words "
I, President
" were chosen carefully, and the tirade was partly prepared.
But faced with the silence of Nicolas Sarkozy, the one who was going to be elected president takes his time and his freedoms.
“
I could have gone on for a long time, I had plenty!
“, declares the socialist to
the press
in the days following the debate.
May 3, 2017: 16.5 million viewers
The audience for this debate between the two rounds, the lowest in the history of the Fifth Republic, is a good illustration of its quality.
A debate that will remain as a great moment of discomfort in the minds of many viewers.
The match, however, had everything to attract the crowds: a young candidate that no one expected against Marine Le Pen, the first far-right candidate to participate in the debate between the two rounds.
Unlike Jacques Chirac in 2002, Emmanuel Macron had agreed to debate: he came out "
dirty
", in his own words the next day.
pic.twitter.com/5w0gdf56v6
— MalaiseTV (@malaisetele) May 3, 2017
That evening, Marine Le Pen, feverish, multiplies the attacks.
There was of course the reference of the National Front candidate to the 1974 debate: "
I see that you want to play student and teacher with me, but that's not my thing
", which had also been interpreted by some as an insulting reference to Brigitte Macron.
Insults, too numerous to count.
We cut each other off, we constantly rail against each other.
“
You represent submissive France
” says one, proposals “
of a greasy unpreparedness
”, “
of great nonsense!
“, castigates the other, adding:”
you talk nonsense
“and”
you lie constantly
“.
Truth is the big loser in this debate.
Marine Le Pen multiplies fake news, gets lost in her files.
She implies that Emmanuel Macron would have "
an offshore account in the Bahamas
", taking up false information disseminated a few days earlier.
For the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic, a candidate lodged a complaint against X a few days before an election: Emmanuel Macron for "
spreading false news with a view to surprising or diverting the votes
".
He hoped that the authors of this false information would be found, but did not specifically target Marine Le Pen.
April 20, 2022: a debate to follow live on RFI from 8:57 p.m.
►
To read also:
Macron against Le Pen: the stakes of the debate
An article published on May 3, 2017 and updated on April 19, 2022 with Léopold Picot
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