French presidential debates

French presidential debates traditionally occur between the two rounds of the presidential elections, and are broadcast on TV.

1974

The role of TV in French presidential election became prominent after Charles de Gaulle's decision to propose a referendum on the establishment of the election of the President of the French Republic under universal suffrage. Alain Peyrefitte, Minister of Information, decided to enact the rule that rival candidates will dispose of the same amount of time to speak.[1]

The first such televised debate occurred between François Mitterrand and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1974, on the ORTF, and was presented by Jacqueline Baudriller and Alain Duhamel. Giscard was said by Mitterrand to have won the election with his pun: "you do not have a monopoly on heart."[2]

1981 and 1988

They reprised their performance in the next election in 1981 when Mitterrand upstaged Giscard and won. Mitterrand memorably retorted to Giscard's description of him as "l'homme du passé" (man of the past) by calling Giscard "l'homme du passif" (man of liabilities).[3] In 1988, after two years of cohabitation, the debate opposed Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac. Each candidate had 50 minutes to speak, with an additional 3 minutes conclusion at the end of the show. During the most famous moment of the debate, Jacques Chirac declared to Mitterrand:

"Allow me to say that this evening, I am not the Prime minister, and you are not the President of the Republic: we are two candidates... equals... and that submit themselves to the judgment of the French... the only one that counts. You will therefore permit me to call you Monsieur Mitterrand!"

A request to which Mitterrand famously responded:

"But you are perfectly correct, Monsieur le Premier ministre!"[4][5]

1995, 2002 and 2007

In 2002, Chirac refused to meet far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The 2007 Presidential debate opposed Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal, the two candidates with the most votes from the first round of voting on 22 April. They were presented by Patrick Poivre d'Arvor and Arlette Chabot. The two sides had alternatively agreed and backed off to holding such a debate. It finally took place on May 2, 2007, and was watched by 20 million viewers, more than in 1995 (16.78 million viewers) but fewer than in 1988 and 1981, when 30 million people had watched the debate.[6] The first opinion poll about the debate indicated that 53% of the sampling frame thought that Nicolas Sarkozy was more convincing, while 31% thought that it was Ségolène Royale who was.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Documentary on presidential debates, INA (French)
  2. ↑ 1974 debate on the INA archives (video)
  3. ↑ debate video segment
  4. ↑ Context of the 1988 debate (French)
  5. ↑ French:
    • Jacques Chirac : "Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que ce soir je ne suis pas le Premier Ministre, et vous n’êtes pas le Président de la République : nous sommes deux candidats… à égalité… et qui se soumettent au jugement des Français… le seul qui compte. Vous me permettrez donc de vous appeler Monsieur Mitterrand !"
    • François Mitterrand : "Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, Monsieur le Premier Ministre !"
  6. ↑ Plus de 20 millions de téléspectateurs devant leur poste, Le Figaro, 3 May 2007 (French)
  7. ↑ Presidential debate Opinion Poll 2007/05/03 (Opionionway) (French)

External links

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