Defeated centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou accused rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday of putting pressure on broadcasters to scrap a TV debate between him and Socialist challenger Segolene Royal.
Bayrou said Sarkozy had subverted basic democratic freedoms of free speech by using his network of media and business contacts to pull the plug on tomorrow's scheduled debate.
His strong third place in last Sunday's first round ballot sparked a scramble to win over Bayrou's almost 7 million voters, and Royal proposed a debate to assess possible points of convergence with the centrist.
Asked on RTL radio if he was accusing Sarkozy of asking Canal+ television to cancel the debate, Bayrou said: "I don't have the proof but I am certain of it."
Bayrou said he based his accusations on testimony from Canal+ and "all those who were interested in the debate and intended to broadcast it."
The Sarkozy camp gave no immediate response.
On Thursday, Canal+ pulled out of a plan to broadcast the Royal-Bayrou debate citing election rules governing equal airtime for candidates ahead of a May 6 run-off between Royal and Sarkozy.
Meanwhile, Royal on Wednesday accused Sarkozy of having "apologized" to US President George W. Bush for France's decision not to back the US militarily in Iraq.
Sarkozy's campaign team called her words "lies."
"I am not for a Europe that aligns with the US," Royal said on France 2 television. "I have never been, and will never, go apologize to President Bush for the position of France on the issue of refusing to send our troops to Iraq."
The interviewer noted that Sarkozy's official position had been that he had supported President Jacques Chirac's opposition to the war and to French participation in military operations in Iraq.
"Yes, well, listen," Royal responded. "He still did this."
Sarkozy's team issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday morning, repeating his position that the war in Iraq was a mistake and that he supported Chirac's decision to refuse to send French troops.
The statement called for Royal to "stop using lies and personal attacks to preserve the dignity and qualities of the presidential debate."
Royal repeated her criticism on Thursday evening, telling TF1 television, "He may have changed his posture but I think all the French were shocked by his move when he visited George Bush, denouncing French arrogance and apologizing for the French position."
While in the US in September, Sarkozy, then the interior minister, sought to distance himself from what he considered France's clumsy method of diplomacy, but he repeated his opposition to the war.
Sarkozy met with President Bush at the White House and posed with him for a photograph, which led to an abundance of commentary in the French news media.
The battle between Sarkozy, who received 31 percent of the vote on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election, and Royal, who received 26 percent, is intensifying.
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