French presidential debates

French presidential debates traditionally occur between the two rounds of the presidential elections, and are broadcasted 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 [ [http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=notice&from=fulltext&full=d%E9bat+pr%E9sidentiels&num_notice=1&total_notices=1 Documentary on presidential debates] , INA fr icon] .

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 don't have the monopoly of the heart." [ [http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAF97104963 1974 debate] on the INA archives (video) ]

1981 and 1988

They reprised their performance in the next election in 1981 when Mitterrand upstaged d'Estaing and won. 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 Prime minister, and you are not the President of the Republic: we are both 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!" [ [http://www.isubway.fr/content/view/299/101/ Context of the 1988 debate] fr icon] [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 appelez Monsieur Mitterrand !":*François Mitterrand : "Mais vous avez tout à fait raison Monsieur le Premier Ministre !"]

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 the 22 April. They were presented by Patrick Poivre d'Arvor and Arlette Chabot. The two sides have 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 less than in 1988 and 1981, when 30 million people had watched the debate [ [http://www.lefigaro.fr/election-presidentielle-2007/20070503.WWW000000330__millions_de_telespectateurs_devant_leur_poste.html Plus de 20 millions de téléspectateurs devant leur poste] , "Le Figaro", 3 May 2007 fr icon] . The first opinion poll about the debate indicates that 53% of the sampling frame thinks that Nicolas Sarkozy was more convincing, and 31 % thinks that it was Ségolène Royale who was. [ [http://www.latribune.fr/info/Nicolas-Sarkozy-juge-le-plus-convaincant--selon-OpinionWay-~-OFRTP-FRANCE-PRESIDENTIELLE-DEBAT-SONDAGE-20070503TXT-$Db=News/News.nsf-$Channel=Politique Presidential debate Opinion Poll 2007/05/03] (Opionionway) fr icon]

References

External links

* [http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=notice&from=fulltext&full=d%E9bat+pr%E9sidentiels&num_notice=1&total_notices=1 Documentary on the presidential debates] (INA)
* [http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAF97104963 1974 video of the debate] (INA)
* [http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAA81020718 1981 video of the debate] (INA)
* [http://videos.tf1.fr/video/news/phraseschoc/0,,828995,00-chirac-mitterrand-dans-yeux-conteste-.html Chirac-Mitterrand, extract from 1988] (video)