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French right primary contenders to face off in televised debate

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Seven candidates, veterans of the French right-wing party, will defend their chance to book the conservative ticket for the presidential contest in a televised debate scheduled later on Thursday.

The short-list of nominees for the primary includes former President Nicolas Sarkozy and key players of his government five years ago: former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, former foreign minister Alain Juppe, former agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire, and ex-ecology minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.

Jean-Francois Cope, former president of the conservative party UMP, and Jean-Frederic Poisson, head of the Christian Democratic Party, will also compete in the primary.

The debate is widely seen as a showdown between Juppe, the polls' favorite, and Sarkozy who lags behind.

"This kind of televised debate rarely change (opinion) trend unless one of the candidates will make a mistake or an unexpected event will happen," Laurent Neumann, political analyst told BFMTV news channel.

"Sarkozy who is trampling in polls, needs to consolidate his second rank. In Juppe camp, there are two instructions:no triumphalism and not making risks," he added.

A Harris Interactive poll released on Oct. 6, showed 39 percent of voters supported Juppe in the primary race while Sarkozy is expected to garner 35 percent of the vote.

A month earlier, the pollster showed the two contenders neck-and-neck on 37 percent.

In addition, some 600 centrists from UDI party on Wednesday voiced backing for the former top diplomat.

Launching his campaign by the end of August, Juppe, 71, promised reforms to "bring hope" to discontent public whose outlook remains clouded by continued rise in unemployment.

"I will never exploit fears or appeal to people's baser instincts. I want to bring hope," Juppe said during a recent rally outside Paris. He has positioned himself as a unifier and a moderate.

In a contrasted tone, his hardline rival Sarkozy, 61, is veering to the far-right with a harsh tone on immigrants, which according to him pose threat to France's identity and security.

Having equal time to speak, the seven candidates will have about 17 minutes to defend their potential presidential credentials. Each one will introduce himself in one minute.

During the about two-hour debate, they will answer questions of journalists from TF1 channel, RTL radio and the daily Le Figaro on economic challenges and security issue.

Supporters of centre-right parties will elect their candidate in two-round vote on Nov. 20 and 27. Endit