by Melanchthon
Sun Apr 29th, 2007 at 06:09:21 AM EST
Here is a short summary of the debate held between Ségolène Royal and François Bayrou Saturday.
The dialogue was a high quality one, open, without hiding disagreements. They excluded any idea of Bayrou rallying Royal stating that was not the purpose of the debate, but that they wanted to explore the possible convergences and identify divergences.
Update: Here is the address where you can see it (seems to work only with Internet Explorer):
Royal - Bayrou debate part 1
Royal - Bayrou debate part 2
Please complete and comment.
From the diaries (with format edit) ~ whataboutbob
They agree strongly on the necessary reform of French institutions and political system to limit he concentration of power and promote the "impartial State", the independence of justice, the media (avoid them being controlled by bog corporations) and of control bodies (Conseil National de la Magistrature, Conseil National de l'Audio-visuel...). They agree also on reinforcing the role of the parliament, including a dose of proportional, on the reform of the Senate. Also on social democracy and the role of social partners.
On Europe, they agree on the importance of Europe and the necessity of a new, more readable treaty . They both support the idea of a referendum for the new treaty.
They disagree on the idea of European mnimum wage and the satus of the BCE. They didn't mention Turkey.
They disagree on the economy, particularly on the role of the State and the cost of electoral programs. They also disagree on the reform of the pension system and the extension of the 35 hours work week.
They agree on immigration, on the policies towards the "banlieues" and the young and locally based police, on justice and more globally on society issues.
Finally, they seem to disagree on nuclear energy, however I think the "suspension" of the EPR project promised by Royal is mainly a tactical move.
