<p>French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Wednesday sought to sway millions of undecided voters as they clashed in a one-off televised debate four days ahead of presidential elections.</p>.<p>France faces a stark choice in Sunday's second-round run-off between the centrist president Macron and the anti-immigration Le Pen, who will seek to become the country's first far-right head of state in an outcome that would send shockwaves around Europe.</p>.<p>Macron and Le Pen, who exchanged a brief handshake before the debate, sat face-to-face at two individual tables separated by just a handful of metres.</p>.<p>The opening exchanges of the debate -- expected to last almost three hours -- were dominated by daily concerns such as the rising cost of living, which Le Pen has made a major feature of her campaign.</p>.<p>Le Pen said she had seen people "suffering" over the first five years of Macron's rule and that "another choice is possible".</p>.<p>"If the French people honour me with their confidence on Sunday, I will be a president for daily life, the value of work and purchasing power," she said.</p>.<p>Macron replied that "we must and should improve people's daily lives through major projects for the school and health systems".</p>.<p>He claimed his measures to help household incomes were more effective than Le Pen's and also said that France should become a "great ecological power of the 21st century".</p>.<p>Macron is favourite to win the run-off, with most polls showing an advantage of over 10 per cent, and become the first French president to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2002.</p>.<p>The latest poll by Ipsos/Sopra Steria published Wednesday predicted a solid margin of victory for Macron on 56 per cent to 44 for Le Pen.</p>.<p>But analysts and allies of the president have warned the result is far from a foregone conclusion, with polls indicating over 10 per cent of French who intend to cast their ballots have yet to decide who to vote for.</p>.<p>An Odoxa poll released Wednesday found that Macron's approval rating as a "good president" had slumped to just 40 per cent in mid-April, down six points from March.</p>.<p>"This debate will probably be decisive for giving an advantage to one of these two rivals," said Odoxa's president Gael Sliman.</p>.<p>Brice Teinturier, director general of Ipsos France, said that while in the past presidential debates had become more of a tradition than decisive this one "could move more votes than we have ever observed before" in modern France.</p>.<p>The almost three-hour debate is a rematch of their 2017 face-off that was widely seen as disastrous for Le Pen and contributing to Macron's easy eventual victory with over 66 per cent of the vote.</p>.<p>This time, the scenario is different in a far tighter race.</p>.<p>Macron is no longer an upstart but the incumbent president with a five-year record to defend while Le Pen has sought to soften her image and present her far-right party as a mainstream force.</p>.<p>Both candidates have their eyes on voters who backed third-placed hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round. He has refused to urge his supporters to vote for Macron in order to keep Le Pen out of the Elysee Palace.</p>.<p>Looking ahead to parliamentary elections in June, often deemed the "third round" in France's electoral system, Melenchon on Tuesday called for a left-wing alliance that would deny either Macron or Le Pen a majority and potentially set him up as prime minister.</p>.<p>Macron will likely seek to portray Le Pen as a fringe politician who cannot be trusted on foreign policy -- especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, given her past support for President Vladimir Putin.</p>.<p>Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered the French debate Wednesday by urging Le Pen to admit "she made a mistake" in her past admiration for Putin and her refusal to condemn his 2014 annexation of Crimea.</p>.<p>Even jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also waded in to the fray with a long Twitter thread from his prison camp urging the French to vote for Macron.</p>.<p>He accused Le Pen of "corruption" and "selling political influence to Putin" over a 2014 loan of nine million euros ($10 million) from a Czech-Russian bank he described as "Putin's notorious money-laundering outfit".</p>.<p>Macron is also likely to target Le Pen's plans for limiting the economic impact of the Ukraine war for low-income households, and her promise to give "national priority" to French citizens for jobs or welfare benefits.</p>.<p>For her part, the far-right leader will zero in on Macron's proposal to push back the retirement age from 62 currently -- though in recent days he has wavered on whether it should be 65 or 64.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Wednesday sought to sway millions of undecided voters as they clashed in a one-off televised debate four days ahead of presidential elections.</p>.<p>France faces a stark choice in Sunday's second-round run-off between the centrist president Macron and the anti-immigration Le Pen, who will seek to become the country's first far-right head of state in an outcome that would send shockwaves around Europe.</p>.<p>Macron and Le Pen, who exchanged a brief handshake before the debate, sat face-to-face at two individual tables separated by just a handful of metres.</p>.<p>The opening exchanges of the debate -- expected to last almost three hours -- were dominated by daily concerns such as the rising cost of living, which Le Pen has made a major feature of her campaign.</p>.<p>Le Pen said she had seen people "suffering" over the first five years of Macron's rule and that "another choice is possible".</p>.<p>"If the French people honour me with their confidence on Sunday, I will be a president for daily life, the value of work and purchasing power," she said.</p>.<p>Macron replied that "we must and should improve people's daily lives through major projects for the school and health systems".</p>.<p>He claimed his measures to help household incomes were more effective than Le Pen's and also said that France should become a "great ecological power of the 21st century".</p>.<p>Macron is favourite to win the run-off, with most polls showing an advantage of over 10 per cent, and become the first French president to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2002.</p>.<p>The latest poll by Ipsos/Sopra Steria published Wednesday predicted a solid margin of victory for Macron on 56 per cent to 44 for Le Pen.</p>.<p>But analysts and allies of the president have warned the result is far from a foregone conclusion, with polls indicating over 10 per cent of French who intend to cast their ballots have yet to decide who to vote for.</p>.<p>An Odoxa poll released Wednesday found that Macron's approval rating as a "good president" had slumped to just 40 per cent in mid-April, down six points from March.</p>.<p>"This debate will probably be decisive for giving an advantage to one of these two rivals," said Odoxa's president Gael Sliman.</p>.<p>Brice Teinturier, director general of Ipsos France, said that while in the past presidential debates had become more of a tradition than decisive this one "could move more votes than we have ever observed before" in modern France.</p>.<p>The almost three-hour debate is a rematch of their 2017 face-off that was widely seen as disastrous for Le Pen and contributing to Macron's easy eventual victory with over 66 per cent of the vote.</p>.<p>This time, the scenario is different in a far tighter race.</p>.<p>Macron is no longer an upstart but the incumbent president with a five-year record to defend while Le Pen has sought to soften her image and present her far-right party as a mainstream force.</p>.<p>Both candidates have their eyes on voters who backed third-placed hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round. He has refused to urge his supporters to vote for Macron in order to keep Le Pen out of the Elysee Palace.</p>.<p>Looking ahead to parliamentary elections in June, often deemed the "third round" in France's electoral system, Melenchon on Tuesday called for a left-wing alliance that would deny either Macron or Le Pen a majority and potentially set him up as prime minister.</p>.<p>Macron will likely seek to portray Le Pen as a fringe politician who cannot be trusted on foreign policy -- especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, given her past support for President Vladimir Putin.</p>.<p>Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered the French debate Wednesday by urging Le Pen to admit "she made a mistake" in her past admiration for Putin and her refusal to condemn his 2014 annexation of Crimea.</p>.<p>Even jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also waded in to the fray with a long Twitter thread from his prison camp urging the French to vote for Macron.</p>.<p>He accused Le Pen of "corruption" and "selling political influence to Putin" over a 2014 loan of nine million euros ($10 million) from a Czech-Russian bank he described as "Putin's notorious money-laundering outfit".</p>.<p>Macron is also likely to target Le Pen's plans for limiting the economic impact of the Ukraine war for low-income households, and her promise to give "national priority" to French citizens for jobs or welfare benefits.</p>.<p>For her part, the far-right leader will zero in on Macron's proposal to push back the retirement age from 62 currently -- though in recent days he has wavered on whether it should be 65 or 64.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>