the socialists seize Arcom over the Attal/Bardella debate

The first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure protested on Saturday, in a letter to the audiovisual regulator Arcom, the organization on May 23 on France 2 of a debate between Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella, seeing it as a “fundamental democratic problem” less than three weeks before the European elections.

“A debate organized for the European elections cannot be reduced in our country to a confrontation between the right and the extreme right, effectively excluding any representation of left-wing groups”wrote Olivier Faure in a letter to the president of Arcom, Roch-Olivier Maistre, of which AFP had a copy and which had been revealed by Libération.

In support of his referral to Arcom, Olivier Faure observes that Prime Minister Gabriel Attal “is not a candidate for the European election, and that he replaces the head of the Renaissance list” Valérie Hayer to face the president of the National Rally (RN), head of her party’s list and very large favorite in the polls.

Equal treatment

“Disregarding equal treatment and respect for political pluralism two weeks before a major political election, the debate organized by France 2 poses a fundamental democratic problem”writes the boss of the PS, whose joint list with Place Publique led by Raphaël Glucksmann, is third in the polls.

He asks Arcom to implement its “regulatory power to ensure respect for the pluralist expression of political debate, and hence the sincerity of the vote on June 9”.

Read alsoEuropeans: Is Raphaël Glucksmann continuing his comeback on Valérie Hayer? Discover the Figaro poll of May 17

Olivier Faure also bases his referral on the cancellation in Italy of a debate scheduled for May 23 on public television RAI between the head of government Giorgia Meloni and the leader of the opposition Elly Schlein. The Italian regulator had recalled that equal treatment must be offered to all parties in the run-up to the European elections.