FRANCE:Twenty million French people relished the live television debate between the presidential candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal last night as if they were watching gladiators in an amphitheatre. Every detail of the combat was negotiated in advance, from the initial handshake - to be broadcast only after the two-hour debate - to the temperature in the television studio.
In the opening minutes of the debate, Mr Sarkozy appeared more at ease. Delivering a dark assessment of present-day France, Ms Royal rattled off statistics in rapid succession. But as the debate heated up, through questions on security and the economy, she rallied somewhat.
"Why do you look with such contempt at anyone who does not share your opinion?" Mr Sarkozy asked her at one point, returning to the victim's pose he has assumed in the last stages of the campaign.
Asked what kind of president he would be, Mr Sarkozy spoke of a "political tsunami" since the extreme right-wing candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen reached the run-off in 2002, and since France rejected the European constitutional treaty in 2005. He wanted results. As president, he would assume responsibility and would speak to the French people often.
In his "irreproachable republic", all presidential appointments would be ratified by the relevant parliamentary committee, in which the opposition would hold veto power.
He would also limit the number of presidential mandates to two, "because the energy you put into staying in power prevents you from doing things."
"I want to get France out of the situation in which she finds herself," Ms Royal said. Two and a half million people were living below the poverty level. The average pension was only €850 per month; €622 for a woman who had not worked a full career.
Assault had increased 30 per cent under Mr Sarkozy's watch at the interior ministry. "You talked about zero tolerance," she reproached him, adding that she wanted "a France where aggressiveness and violence decrease."
Did Mr Sarkozy feel responsible for the state the country was in, Ms Royal asked. Throughout the campaign she has referred to him as "the incumbent candidate". He has skilfully managed to persuade the French that he would have done things differently had he been in charge, rather than being simply number two in the government.
"I found a catastrophic situation [ when I arrived at the interior ministry]," Mr Sarkozy said. Under Ms Royal's "socialist friends", in power from 1997 until 2002, "violence and delinquency exploded." Left and right shared blame for "failing in our responsibilities," he said. But the man who built his reputation for being tough on law and order was not apologetic. Under his mandate, there were "one million fewer victims," he claimed.
The civil service eats up 45 per cent of the French budget, Mr Sarkozy said. He would conclude a pact with the civil service whereby retiring civil servants would not be replaced.
Half of the savings would go to increasing the salaries of the remaining civil servants, which were too low. The other half would go towards debt reduction. "Couldn't we, left and right, agree on this position?" he asked.
Ms Royal said she would reduce the debt by eliminating duplication between regions, departments and municipalities. Mr Sarkozy should say which civil servants were to be eliminated, she added.
Two days earlier, a police woman had been raped while walking home from work at night in the Paris suburb of Bobigny.
It was the second time this had happened, she noted. "Why are public servants not protected? Why are they not accompanied to their homes?"
The solution was not to accompany every woman home, Mr Sarkozy said. "At night, yes," Ms Royal insisted. "The solution is to do away with delinquency," Mr Sarkozy continued.
And if the socialists were so worried about crime, why had they refused to vote for increased numbers of policemen he had requested? Because there were not adequate funds, Ms Royal answered.
Half of all crimes in France are committed by 5 per cent of repeat offenders, Mr Sarkozy said. The problem was that first-time offenders are often not punished, Ms Royal said, repeating her proposal to entrust juvenile delinquents to the military.
When Mr Sarkozy promised to allow handicapped children to attend regular schools, Ms Royal accused him of exploiting the misfortune of the handicapped for political gain, in short, of "political immorality". The debate turned to Ms Royal's advantage.
As minister for school affairs, she explained, she had created a programme under which 7,000 assistants accompanied handicapped children to school. The government to which Mr Sarkozy belonged cancelled the programme.
"I am angry," she said. "Calm down. Calm down. The president of France must be calm," Mr Sarkozy said snidely. "No," Ms Royal answered. "Not if it's a just anger."