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Added on the 02/05/2017 20:11:35 - Copyright : France 24 EN
Ahead of France’s second round vote, the contrast couldn't be starker between far-right leader Marine Le Pen who sees Europe as part of the problem and her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron who sees it as part of the solution. Europe is sure to be a key issue in voters’ minds, especially as almost 20% of them cast their vote for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a fervent Eurosceptic. What role for France on the continental stage?
It was clear from the outset that this campaign would upend French politics. Then with a little more than 24 hours of campaigning left a 39-year old convict targeted police on Paris' Champs-Elysées, killing an officer, injuring three, dying in a hail of bullets and stealing everyone's attention. How will this impact the election? With the top four candidates still neck-and-and neck, our panel of international journalists try to make sense of an election unlike any France has seen before.
Candidate for re-election Nicolas Sarkozy argues for tightening Europe's borders to outside immigrants and companies. Mere political grandstanding or is the French president undermining the EU’s common groundrules?
For the first time since World War Two, neither the main center-left or center-right parties in France will be on the ballot. Instead it's far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen versus 39-year old centrist Emmanuel Macron. Will the next two weeks exacerbate the divide between those who see globalization as an opportunity and those who fear it? Will it spark the same bitterness and resentment that emerged during the Brexit campaign? And is Emmanuel Macron such a shoe-in to beat Marine Le Pen?
The stakes couldn't be higher ahead of Sunday's first round of the French presidential election. Open or closed borders? More Europe or less? A bigger or smaller welfare state? A bigger or smaller military? But once in the voting booth, will the French focus on issues, institutions or individuals? With the outcome a total uncertainty, we look back at a race that's been about identity, incumbent fatigue, ethics... But what matters most?
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