Gabriel Attal for the presidential camp, Jordan Bardella for the National Rally and Olivier Faure for the New Popular Front. Three days before the first round of the legislative elections, the representatives of the three blocs given at the top of the ballot met for a final debate on France 2 this Thursday, June 27.
Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister and the president of the National Rally had already crossed swords, this time against Manuel Bompard.
Purchasing power, dual nationals, exercising power… Several themes were addressed during this debate. BFMTV.com summarizes the essentials for you.
• Attal promises referendums if he is re-elected to Matignon
At the start of the debate, the three political leaders were questioned about their vision and the exercise of power. The current tenant of Matignon promised to “govern differently”, while proposing “a referendum each year on a subject of importance to the French.”
“I think that a certain number of decisions that were taken, in particular the use of 49.3 for budgetary texts, could have given an impression of brutalization,” he admitted. • Bardella imagines Ciotti in his potential government
Jordan Bardella, who has already stated that he will only go to Matignon in the event of an absolute majority, assured that he wants “a government of national unity where all the energies and skills which are exercised in the country”. He also confirms that Éric Ciotti, with whom he has sealed an alliance, “will be called upon to take on important responsibilities”.
What about a New Popular Front government? “The Prime Minister will be neither rebellious, nor green, nor socialist, nor communist, he will come from the New Popular Front. He will be the one who will allow the whole left and the Greens to come together,” replied Olivier Faure.
• Chief of the armies, “an honorary title”? Attal tackles Le Pen, who “does not respect our Constitution”
This is the sentence that ignited the powder this Thursday, June 27 in the morning. In an interview with Télégramme, Marine Le Pen assured: “chief of the armed forces, for the president, it is an honorary title since it is the Prime Minister who holds the purse strings”.
A “serious” statement for Gabriel Attal, for whom Marine Le Pen “does not respect our Constitution”. “We can say a lot of things about our institutions. If there is one thing that works in France, it is the chain of command”.
“The message sent by Ms. Le Pen is clear: if the RN were to win the elections, there would be a form of dispute between the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to know who has the role of head of the armies,” said added Gabriel Attal.
“Wherever she governs, everywhere she seeks to take precedence over institutions,” deplored Olivier Faure, who saw in Marine Le Pen’s statement the “putschist state of mind of the extreme right.”
“The Constitution stipulates that the one who has responsibility for National Defense is the Prime Minister,” retorted Jordan Bardella. “It is the Prime Minister who determines the operating budget of the armies. I intend to continue the effort on the budget of the armies.”
• “Second-class Frenchman”, “slanderer”… Bardella at the heart of a tense exchange on dual nationals
This is one of the proposals of the National Rally: to prevent dual nationals from occupying “extremely sensitive jobs” in the State – “around fifty positions”, has since clarified the vice-president of the RN Sébastien Chenu. For Gabriel Attal, Jordan Bardella’s party “stigmatizes binational French people”. According to him, the far-right party tells these French people “that they are half-French”.
“When did I say that dual nationals were not real French?” Jordan Bardella retorted. “I never said that,” replied the president of the RN. “I cannot let France’s number one liar defame millions of French people.” And added: “You are a little slanderer.”
“You are creating second-class French people!” protested Olivier Faure, who accuses the far-right party of “sorting between the French”. • Faure defends the increase in the minimum wage, Attal denounces “magical” measures
While the New Popular Front proposes to increase the minimum wage to 1,600 euros net per month, Olivier Faure defended the measure. “Every time the left proposes, every time you have the same people who tell us that nothing will be possible,” he stressed, referring to the Spanish example, where “they increased the minimum wage by 47%.” “We are proposing to increase it by 14% (…) Today, living on the minimum wage is impossible,” he insisted.
“We can lower VAT rates, we can increase the minimum wage, since it’s magic. Why not set it at 2,000 or 3,000 if it’s magic?”, replied Gabriel Attal. The Prime Minister claims to propose “measures that are financeable and achievable, such as the systematic revaluation of retirement pensions with inflation.”
• Attal still claims to be a victim of homophobia, Faure regrets Macron’s comments on the civil status of trans people
The three officials were also questioned on social issues, including homophobia. “I have experienced homophobia, I live it. My luck is that I have surrounded myself well and I am shielded,” confided Gabriel Attal, who is the first openly homosexual head of government in France.
“I think of the young French people who are afraid. (…) I want to tell them that in the society that I defend, all French people will have their place. That for me is French society. A universalist Republic that does not discriminate no one,” he assured.
If Olivier Faure welcomed Gabriel Attal’s comments, he “regretted” that Emmanuel Macron “considered that transphobia could be a subject for jokes”. The leader of the PS here referred to the comments of the head of state, who had criticized the “ubiquitous” desire of the New Popular Front to allow transgender people to “change sex in town hall”. “I would like all differences to be accepted (…) There are no French people too many,” he insisted.
“I have the impression that we do not live in the same country. The fear of taking responsibility is a fact, and in the France of 2024, it is unacceptable. But there are many neighborhoods where in France, it is not good to be born a Jew, a homosexual or a woman because we bring in people who reject all forms of differences,” declared Jordan Bardella. “Stop talking about immigration all the time!” retorted Gabriel Attal.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
