Macron and Le Pen accuse each other of "falsehoods" and "dishonesty" in a tense electoral debate

President Emmanuel Macron dominated Wednesday night's debate against Marine Le Pen, but he did not shut her out like he did five years ago.

Le Pen resisted.

She has softened the image of her and is more tanned.

Although she is the candidate of the extreme right, the president renounced to apply the qualification of her.

She preferred to question her competence to rule.

Between mutual accusations of "falsehood" and "dishonesty", the centrist Macron tried to dismantle his rival's program and his inconsistencies.

And he managed to put her on the defensive: as if what was in question was not the administration of the president these five years, but the proposals of the candidate.

Le Pen did not always know how to respond to the arguments of a president who knows the issues by heart and dominates the dialectic.

But the president had to balance to avoid appearing arrogant when he attacked her or displaying his intelligence: his worst enemy.

One of the most tense moments occurred when Macron accused his rival of being financially dependent on Vladimir Putin's Russia.

She denied it.

There was no definitive moment, nor egregious errors.

It is a small victory for Le Pen, but surely insufficient: the debate will hardly change anything in the campaign.

Macron is the favourite, according to the polls.

If they are correct, Le Pen will get the best result in history for the extreme right in France.

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This has been the debate, commented by experts from EL PAÍS

“You depend on Russian power and on Mr. [Vladímir] Putin,” Macron told Le Pen after throwing him in the face of the nine million euro loan that his party, the National Rally (RN), owes to a Russian bank.

“And many of her positions are explained by this dependency,” he added, referring to the defense, by the candidate, of the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 or her defense of Moscow until the invasion of Ukraine in February.

"It's false.

It is dishonest,” replied Le Pen, who justified the Russian loan because no French bank wanted to lend money to his party.

“We return the money every month.

We are a poor party, but this is not dishonorable”.

Le Pen insisted that her position on Ukraine was very similar to Macron's.

He declared himself in favor of the current sanctions, but not those that affect Russian gas and oil, because in his opinion they will end up harming the French.

"We cannot afford to do

in the hope of hurting Russia."

The accusation of "falsehood" was repeated throughout the face-to-face.

It was a rough clash, but neither lost their form, as happened to Le Pen in the previous debate between the two, five years ago.

Millions of viewers staged before the clash between two opposing, irreconcilable visions of France, Europe and the world.

And two styles and personalities.

"My priority is to return the money to the French," said Le Pen, after listing all the promises to increase wages and lower prices, such as the massive reduction in VAT or the abolition of income tax for all those under 30 years.

The debate started with the theme that has focused the campaign: purchasing power.

Although it has risen during Macron's five-year tenure, it has been eroded in recent months by inflation.

Macron, when Le Pen exposed the difficulties of the working classes, repeated: "You are right to say this."

It was a way of defusing the accusation of arrogance.

But then, as she would do later when addressing other aspects of the program, she pointed out the project's inconsistencies: as a deputy, Le Pen voted against the so-called energy shield that blocks price increases.

And given her lack of answers, she accused her: “You don't give answers to what I ask.

It is normal!

Does not have them!"

The candidates during a moment of the debate for the presidential elections on Sunday.LUDOVIC MARIN (AFP)

Addressing the European Union and Le Pen's proposal to replace it with an alliance of European nations, the president stated: "Your project is a project that does not say its name: exit from the EU."

Le Pen accused Macron of enclosing French sovereignty in Europe and declared: “The image I have of France is that of a world power, not just a European one.

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To the left of the screens was Macron.

On the right, LePen.

Between the two, 2.5 meters away.

The moderators were the journalists Gilles Bouleau and Léa Salamé, from the private channel TF1 and the public channel France 2, organizers of the debate.

Le Pen had prepared thoroughly.

He cleared his schedule for two days.

He isolated himself with his team.

He trained with

.

His advisers prepared thematic cards for him.

He tried at all costs to avoid a repeat of the debate five years ago, when he arrived exhausted from an intense and ill-prepared campaign.

The result has gone down in the annals of debates in France: he got the facts wrong, launched unsubstantiated rumours, and demonstrated a lack of preparation that he confirmed for a majority of French people who were unfit for office.

Macron defeated her four days later with 66% of the vote against 34%.

Macron, who wears the double hat of president and candidate, did not change his plans in the previous days.

On the eve of the face-off, he seemed sure of his ability to cope.

He continued with the scheduled interviews, the conference calls with international counterparts, the Council of Ministers.

Macron arrived with the appointment with a favorable wind in the polls.

The newspaper

published an exhaustive study by Ipsos-Sopra Steria with questions to 12,706 people and a margin of error of 1.1%.

Macron, on the eve of the debate, would win with 56% of the vote;

Le Pen would get 44%.

For Macron, the goal in the debate was to dispel the image of arrogance and elitism: the all-knowing technocrat, the

of French politics.

He prone to display his intelligence.

And with a dangerous tendency to blurt out untimely phrases that offend many French people.

For Le Pen, it was about dispelling another image: that of a candidate who worries much of the country.

Because of her history: she is the heiress of the most famous dynasty of the European extreme right.

Because of her inexperience when it comes to governing and her idea, which she must make an effort to deny, that she would be incompetent at the helm of France, a nuclear power with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Because of her ultra-nationalist program, which, if applied, would mean a radical break with the French constitutional order and with the European Union as it has worked until now.

Le Pen could only do better than she did in 2017. She knew going into the debate that a modest performance would already be interpreted as a victory for her.

At the same time, she was aware that only rarely does a debate change the course of a campaign, and that, if the polls are right, she has failed after the first round on April 10 to create a dynamic in favor of she.

On Sunday the 47.9 million French with the right to vote will decide.

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