French presidential candidates clash in first debate
Seven leading candidates for president of France held their first debate in Paris less than eight months before the 2027 election. Participants in the meeting, organized by the MEDEF employers' federation at the Roland Garros complex, agreed that the country has economic problems but proposed different ways to solve them, France 24 English reports.
Disputes over the economy
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, who is running for president for the fourth time and has high poll ratings, said her party would present a plan to cut spending by €125 billion. She also said there was a broad consensus on the seriousness of the economic situation.
Radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on business representatives to raise wages in order to prevent what he described as a recession in France. He also criticized tax breaks under President Emmanuel Macron, claiming that they amount to the entire budget deficit.
Former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who headed the government under Macron, accused Mélenchon of seeking to write off the public debt. In Philippe's view, such steps could lead to France being excluded from the banking system.
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Competition for the second round
Emmanuel Macron cannot run again because he has served the maximum two consecutive presidential terms. France's two-round electoral system heightens concerns that a large number of candidates from centrist, centre-left, centre-right and right-wing forces could split the votes of moderate voters in the first round.
According to an Ifop-Fiducial poll, Jean-Luc Mélenchon could reach the second round alongside Marine Le Pen, who is significantly ahead of her rivals in first-round projections. In the centre, two of Macron's former prime ministers, Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, are campaigning.
The debate also included MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, Bruno Retailleau of the right-wing Republicans, and Greens leader Marine Tondelier. Glucksmann plans to take part in October primaries with the Socialist Party to determine the strongest candidate.
