Despite the high-audience duel between Eric Zemmour and Jean-Luc Mélenchon on BFMTV, Valérie Pécresse and Gérald Darmanin played the counter-programming in the new political program of France 2. Security, terrorism, immigration ... For more than 30 minutes , the president of the Ile-de-France region and the Minister of the Interior debated in a very peaceful manner.
Far from a “show” duel, the two personalities wanted to bet on the merits.
To discover
Presidential 2022: where are the candidates in the polls?
From the outset, Gérald Darmanin said he was
"very honored to debate with Valérie Pécresse (...). she is a candidate for a government party.
"Before proposing the executive's service offers:
" I think she might deserve to put her energy, which is very great, at the service of the President of the Republic.
We do not have many differences, they are caricatured for the needs of the campaign, I regret it, it is his choice.
"
Faced with what can be considered a kiss of death, Valérie Pécresse, for her part, regrets that the tenant of Place Beauvau has "
put his energy and talent at the service of a left-wing majority who 'serves as an alibi.
""
Me, I have not changed my convictions. Gérald Darmanin went to serve his ambitions, ”
even launches the contender for the primary on the right.
During this speckled foil debate, Gérald Darmanin wanted to display Valérie Pécresse as a candidate who “caricatures” herself during the campaign.
Faced with the former Budget Minister who is inspired by Angela Merkel, the Minister of the Interior defended the government's record.
"I served the ambitions for which I am fighting: the ISF, lower taxes ... On immigration, when we compare ourselves, we do better than the Germans
", rejoices Gerald Darmanin.
Which claims to have only "
few differences
" with the president of the Ile-de-France region, except on the issue of quotas and the dismissal of juvenile offenders.
Read also Valérie Pécresse: "I am a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic to restore French pride"
Because immigration was the other central theme of the debate.
Valérie Pécresse first wishes to put in place agreements with the countries of origin so as not to let immigrants stay in France with an “obligation to leave the territory”.
And then put the visa issue in the negotiation.
On the issue of the right to asylum, Gérald Darmanin notably criticized Valérie Pécresse for wanting to set up quotas.
An inapplicable measure according to him: “
We cannot measure the humanity that we are going to give back to a part of the population.
"
"There are too many immigrants", estimates Pécresse
On the question of immigration and the theory of "great replacement", the Minister of the Interior judges
"immigrants for what they do, and not for what they are ... It is not not a question of numbers ”,
while specifying that“
we have the right to choose whoever we want on our soil
”.
Conversely, the president of the Ile-de-France region believes that “
there are too many immigrants in France (...).
we let in people we haven't chosen ”.
Read also Presidential: Valérie Pécresse, candidate scrutinized by LREM
For her, “
there are areas of non-France in the republic. We have urban confinement ghettos (...). We must not leave pockets like that, we have concentrated the difficulty in the same neighborhoods; and that is a mistake that goes back a long way.
"A recommendation which did not fail to make the Minister of the Interior react: faced with Islamism,"
we cannot answer town planning, we must answer scandal
". The two politicians also crossed swords on the terms of the separatism law voted a few weeks ago in the National Assembly, and in particular on the question of the veil.
If Valérie Pécresse finally qualified Gérald Darmanin as "soft" at the end of the debate - in reference to this qualifier used by him against Marine Le Pen last October - the Minister of the Interior declared himself
"still right-wing ".
But which right?
The question will be at the heart of the debates in 2022.
