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2022 FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Macron vs Le Pen: 5 things to watch out for in tonight’s live TV debate

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen go head-to-head in a live TV debate on Wednesday evening. At stake: the French presidency. Here's what to expect.

Published: 20 April 2022 14:01 CEST
Macron vs Le Pen: 5 things to watch out for in tonight’s live TV debate
Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 election TV debate (Photo: Eric Feferberg / POOL / AFP)

Macron and Le Pen face off against one another in the now-traditional TV debate between candidates, which is screened live on multiple French TV channels from 9pm on Wednesday.

If you want to play a drinking game while watching, journalists at the French daily Libération have come up with this debate bingo card.

It’s a rerun of the 2017 debate, which was notably nasty – the French press described it as a ‘dirty debate’ the morning after. This one is likely to be a bit different.

READ ALSO The Macron v Le Pen debate: What happens?

Here are some of the things to watch out for;

A better-prepared Le Pen

In 2017, Marine Le Pen had what sports journalists would call ‘a nightmare’ in the second-round debate against Emmanuel Macron, a programme that was watched by some 16.5 million people in France. 

The day after the bruising two-and-a-half hour TV battle for hearts and votes, French media criticised Le Pen’s “permanent aggression” and found her “unconvincing” as she referred repeatedly to her notes and made a number of factual errors that Macron was quick to correct and turn to his advantage. 

He even got away with telling her to ‘stop being ridiculous’. She lost four points in the polls immediately after the debate, and was well beaten in the vote a few days later.

This time around she is expected to be much better prepared and will seek to portray herself as the ‘caring candidate’, concerned with the cost of living crisis and the ability of the French people to make ends meet. 

She has taken two days out of campaigning to prepare for what could be a campaign-defining moment. Macron, too, has been busy swotting up on his policy points and attack lines.

READ ALSO Le Pen’s plan to legalise discrimination against foreigners in France – including dual nationals

Flat questions from the journalists

If you’re hoping for a tough interrogation from the two journalist hosts, prepare to be disappointed – and not simply because France 2’s no-nonsense devourer of politician egos Anne-Sophie Lapix isn’t involved, after both Macron and Le Pen reportedly turned her down as a moderator.

Hosts Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau have a strictly constrained role. Their questions will deliberately be flat and as open as possible. They are, basically, there to set the ball rolling on each topic, and let the candidates at it. It is not their job to correct factual errors – that’s down to the other candidate. 

Macron has scheduled a one-on-one with Lapix the morning after the big debate, when she might actually be able to do a better job of quizzing him than if she had been on the debate itself.

READ ALSO OPINION: Macron will win the French election – and then his real problems begin

Topics

The debate will open with questions on the cost of living – considered to be a strong suit for challenger Le Pen. After disagreement over what to start the debate between the two parties – Macron wanted international affairs – the opening topic was decided on the drawing of lots.

Security and governance will close the debate, with international affairs – a strength for Macron – and climate issues, a weak point for Le Pen, both also on the agenda.

Le Pen will also speak first, having won another coin toss, while Macron will get the final word.

READ ALSO EXPLAINED: What are the key policy differences between Macron and Le Pen?

Careful candidates

The 2017 debate was about as brutal as primetime political TV gets. Macron and Le Pen wasted little time laying into each other’s policies and personalities.

Macron branded Le Pen a“hate-filled” liar who “fed off France’s misery” and would bring “civil war” to France.

Le Pen called Macron an arrogant, spoilt, cold-eyed, “smirking banker” intent on “butchering France” in favour of “big economic interests”.

There’s likely to be less of that this time. The consensus of opinion among political watchers in France is that this debate will be much calmer. Bad news for anyone hoping for a repeat of the explosive TV of five years ago.

A Macronism

Remember poudre de perlimpinpin from the 2017 debate? Or even le grand rabougrissement from earlier in this campaign?

Macron is quite well known for his use of unusual or archaic phrases when debating.

While there’s no guarantee of that this rime, expect a social media burst if either of them come up with something a little esoteric, while foreign correspondents will be scrabbling for the dictionary.

We will have the latest news, reactions and analysis of the debate on our homepage HERE from 9pm on Wednesday.

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POLITICS

8 things you never knew about Andorra

The tiny statelet nestled in the Pyrenees mountains that mark the border between France and Spain hit the headlines with its new language requirement for residency permits – but what else is there to know about Andorra?

Published: 26 April 2024 15:11 CEST
8 things you never knew about Andorra

This week, Andorra passed a law setting a minimum Catalan language requirement for foreign residents. 

It’s not often the tiny, independent principality in the mountains makes the news – other than, perhaps, when its national football team loses (again) to a rather larger rival in international qualifying competitions.

The national side are due to play Spain in early June, as part of the larger nation’s warm-up for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Here, then, in case you’re watching that match, at Estadio Nuevo Vivero, are a few facts about Andorra that you can astound your fellow football fans with…

Size matters

Small though it is – it has an area of just 468 square kilometres, a little more than half the size of the greater Paris area – there are five smaller states in Europe, 15 smaller countries in the world by area, and 10 smaller by population.

People

Its population in 2023 was 81,588. That’s fewer people than the city of Pau, in southwest France (which is itself the 65th largest town in France, by population).

High-living

The principality’s capital, Andorra la Vella (population c20,000 – about the same population as Dax) is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. 

Spoken words

The official language – and the one you’ll need for a residency permit – is Catalan. But visitors will find Spanish, Portuguese and French are also commonly spoken, and a fair few people will speak some English, too.

Sport

We’ve already mentioned the football. But Andorra’s main claim to sporting fame is as a renowned winter sports venue. With about 350km of ski runs, across 3,100 hectares of mountainous terrain, it boasts the largest ski area in the Pyrenees.

Economic model

Tourism, the mainstay of the economy, accounts for roughly 80 percent of Andorra’s GDP. More than 10 million tourists visit every year.

It also has no sales tax on most items – which is why you’ll often find a queue at the French border as locals pop into the principality to buy things like alcohol, cigarettes and (bizarrely) washing powder, which are significantly cheaper.

Head of state

Andorra has two heads of state, because history. It’s believed the principality was created by Charlemagne (c748 – 814CE), and was ruled by the count of Urgell up to 988CE, when it was handed over to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The principality, as we know it today, was formed by a treaty between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix in 1278.

Today, the state is jointly ruled by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and … the president of France, who (despite the French aversion to monarchy and nobility) has the title Prince of Andorra, following the transfer of the count of Foix’s claims to the Crown of France and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic. 

Military, of sorts

Andorra does have a small, mostly ceremonial army. But all able-bodied Andorran men aged between 21 and 60 are obliged to respond to emergency situations, including natural disasters.

Legally, a rifle should be kept and maintained in every Andorran household – though the same law also states that the police will supply a firearm if one is required.

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