With four days to go before France's presidential election, candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal faced off tonight in a televised debate that could determine the eventual winner.
Socialist candidate Ms Royal, the underdog in opinion polls, immediately attacked Mr Sarkozy for the record of the outgoing rightist government, in which he served as both interior minister and finance minister.
"You are in part responsible for the situation in which France finds itself today," a hard-hitting Ms Royal said in her opening remarks, accusing the government of failing to tackle unemployment and overseeing an increase in street crime.
The first and only debate in the fierce election race was shown live on two main television channels and was expected to be watched by nearly half of France's 44.5 million voters.
Mr Sarkozy has tried to present himself during the election campaign almost as an opposition leader, promising to break with the past if he takes over.
"We cannot continue to do politics as before," he said in his opening remarks in the debate.
For Royal, the debate represented a last chance to overhaul Mr Sarkozy, who has topped the polls since the start of the year and who has weathered constant opposition accusations that he is an authoritarian bully.
It also gave her a chance to confront widespread scepticism that she is not ready to become president - one of the most powerful jobs in the West.
Mr Sarkozy topped the first round on April 22nd with 31.2 per cent of the ballot while Ms Royal came second with 25.9 per cent. They have since battled to win the backing of centrist voters who will hold the key on the May 6th run off.
Both candidates have sought in recent days to downplay the importance of the debate and continued their relentless campaigning regardless, refusing to take time out to prepare for the two-hour encounter, which started at 9pm 8pm Irish time.