François
Fillon beats Alain Juppé in presidential candidacy debate
The
men, running as candidates for the French right’s nomination,
debated issues including abortion and the economy
Angelique Chrisafis
in Paris
Friday 25 November
2016 00.54 GMT
François Fillon,
the socially conservative former French prime minister promising a
pro-business “electric shock” for France, was seen as the winner
of a TV debate against his more moderate rival, Alain Juppé, ahead
of Sunday’s vote to nominate the French right’s presidential
candidate.
The two-hour live TV
stand-off was surprisingly mild-mannered after days of savage attacks
between the two candidates, in which Fillon complained of being
called a “medieval reactionary” for his plans to roll back
certain adoption rights for gay couples and his private beliefs on
abortion, and Juppé complained he had been labelled an Islamist “Ali
Juppé” for supporting the diversity of France.
Fillon said this
week that France had never been so rightwing and that he was the best
candidate to tap into that rightwing shift. He told the TV debate he
felt he had won the “ideological battle”. He promised to cut half
a million public sector jobs while returning France to full
employment in five years – a huge promise in a country that has
battled with mass unemployment for three decades, including during
Fillon’s recent five-year stint as prime minister. Fillon also said
there needed to be more privatisation in the French health service
and that France’s cherished social model – its vast security net
including pensions, unemployment benefit and the health system –
was defunct and had to be overhauled.
Juppé warned
against what he called brutal reform that wouldn’t work.
Juppé insisted that
their stances on abortion should be clarified. Fillon, who has been
emphasising his Christian faith as he attempts to appeal to a
hardline Catholic vote, has said he was personally opposed to
abortion. But he said in the debate that he would do nothing to
change French abortion laws introduced in 1975. Juppé said, for him,
abortion was a fundamental right.
The two candidates
differed on the scale of economic reform and public spending cuts,
but both proposed tax cuts and public-sector-job cuts.
They also differed
on the identity of France. “No, France is not a multicultural
nation,” Fillon said, adding that foreigners who came to France
must assimilate. “When you come to someone’s house, by courtesy,
you don’t take over,” he said.
Juppé said France’s
identity came from its rich diversity which should be celebrated and
that he wanted to bring people together.
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