Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen crossed swords for the first time in this campaign on Wednesday evening during the major election debate. The atmosphere was tense at times, but the question is whether the candidates have been able to convince undecided voters.
The debate started with purchasing power, one of the spearheads of Marine Le Pen’s campaign and, according to the polls, the main topic of the polls. The candidates mainly disagreed on how that purchasing power could be improved: with Le Pen’s permanent reduction in VAT on energy or the current government’s premium. Le Pen also promised to structurally raise wages in the country.
In addition to purchasing power, the two also discussed foreign policy – especially Russia and Europe – pensions, the climate, energy, youth and immigration. That theme, very important to Marine Le Pen, only came up at the very end of the 2 hour and 45 minute debate, so it faded into the background.
Le Pen confirmed she will introduce a headscarf ban if elected. She will ‘fight not against Islam because faith has a place in France, but against radical Islam’. The right-wing politician says she wants to ‘liberate women and push back Islamic ideology’.
Macron strongly opposes this plan. He says it goes against the French constitution and speaks of a ‘law of rejection’ that “pushes millions of compatriots out of public space”. “You are proposing that police officers go behind headscarves and other religious symbols?” asked the French president. He accuses her of ‘risking a civil war’.
Wearing a headscarf has been a problem in France for years. Such a visible expression of faith may not be displayed in schools and a headscarf ban also applies to employees in government buildings. During the presidential elections in 2017, Le Pen caused a stir because she did not want to wear a headscarf in Lebanon.
Macron called Sunday’s election “a referendum for or against the EU, ecological ambitions, secularism and brotherhood.” And a referendum for or against who we are and where we come from.’ Le Pen, in her last words, addressed the people who “want peace and a return to sanity” after five years of constant confrontation and hardship.
According to the latest polls, Macron can currently count on 56 percent of the vote.
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