Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has vowed to hold a referendum on reintroducing the death penalty in France and ban wind farms, prompting fierce criticism from her rival President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron accused Le Pen of retaining her ‘authoritarian’ and 식물 엑소즘 extremist views after she refused to rule out the return of the death penalty and banned a team of reporters from a press conference.
The National Rally leader had said, if elected, she thought it conceivable to hold a public referendum on reintroducing the death penalty.Le Pen has previously said that personally she would vote against such a step.
Le Pen has also said she would ban wind turbines in France, which she calls ‘horrors that cost us a fortune’, prompting Macron to slam her plan as an ‘aberration’.
With just 10 days to before a run-off presidential vote that will determine who will lead France for the next five years, polls show Le Pen is slightly behind the centrist president, but the contest promises to be tight.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen (pictured in Paris on Wednesday) has vowed to hold a referendum on reintroducing the death penalty in France and ban wind farms, prompting fierce criticism from her rival President Emmanuel Macron
President Emmanuel Macron accused Le Pen of retaining her ‘authoritarian’ and extremist views after she refused to rule out the return of the death penalty and banned a team of reporters from a press conference.Pictured: Macron meets locals as he campaigns in Le Havre, western France, on Thursday
Marine Le Pen has been steadily closing the gap on Macron in French presidential election polls
While the cost of living is the top election theme, 식물 엑소즘 energy policies are closely linked to that, and the candidates have put forward very different policies on the renewables sector.
Both would boost the nuclear sector, but Macron wants France to build more wind turbines, while Le Pen would end all subsidies to the solar and wind energy sector, apply a moratorium on both and dismantle already existing turbines.
‘Exiting renewables today would be a complete aberration, we would be the only country in the world doing that,’ Macron told France Bleu radio on a visit to the northern France port of Le Havre.Her plan, he said, would mean ‘spending hundreds of millions of euros dismantling existing wind turbines’.
Building nuclear plants would take time and 식물 엑소즘 would not cover the drop in production from dismantling the turbines, he added.
Le Pen argues in her election platform that boosting the nuclear sector as well as hydro power and thermal energy would provide France with the energy mix it needs.
As well as seeking to cut reliance on fossil fuels in general to meet climate targets, EU states have been looking to renewables to help wean themselves off Russian gas after the West imposed sanctions due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The French Renewable Energy Trade Association (SER) said on Thursday that Le Pen’s plans would be ‘a major step backwards for our country and for the climate, by increasing our greenhouse gas emissions and our imports of fossil fuels, at the expense of taxpayers and the most precarious consumers’.
Le Pen’s team did not respond to a request for comment.
Macron shakes hands with members of the public after a campaign stop at the Andre Malraux art museum, in Le Havre, France, on Thursday
Earlier on Thursday, Le Pen rebuffed criticism by Macron who accused her of retaining her ‘authoritarian’ and extremist views.
‘This (criticism) makes me smile because we have never had a president who showed more signs of extremism than Emmanuel Macron,’ Le Pen told broadcaster 2, citing police action against political demonstrations, such as the yellow vest movement.
Slightly behind in opinion polls, Le Pen has successfully softened her image and tapped into anger over the and a perception Macron is disconnected from everyday hardships.Some polls show her victory in the April 24 runoff is within the margin of error.
Yesterday, Macron launched a scathing attack on Le Pen, saying her true ‘authoritarian’ intentions were showing after she banned a group of reporters from a press conference and refused to rule out a return to the death penalty.
‘Despite all the efforts, the true face of the far-right is coming back.It is a face that doesn’t respect freedoms, the constitutional framework, press independence and fundamental freedoms, rights,’ Macron told France 2 television on Wednesday.
Such comments are the start of an ‘authoritarian drift,’ said Macron, who has of late categorised Le Pen’s manifesto as full of lies and false promises that conceal a far-right agenda ultimately leading to France leaving the European Union.
Le Pen said the show whose journalists were refused accreditation was entertainment rather than journalism and that she reserved the right – now as a candidate, and later as president if elected – to choose who may attend her news conferences.
She retorted that Macron was showing his ‘weakness’ and was in no position to give lessons on how to handle the press.
Macron has had a bumpy relationship with the media during his presidency and last week was criticised for refusing to take part in several prime time shows ahead of the first round.
‘He’d be better off going into the substance of my project.It is known, transparent. We can discuss it and argue over our disagreements,’ Le Pen said at a campaign stop outside of Paris.
