Le Pen to speak first in pre-election debate with Macron

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has won the right to open the single televised debate ahead of the second round of the polls, where her only opponent is incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron, who is running for the second term, Report informs citing TASS.

“According to the results of the lot, supervised by [French media regulator] Arcom, Marine Le Pen will be the first to speak. Each candidate will have one and a half minutes for an introductory speech and two minutes for a conclusion. The last word will also be for Marine Le Pen,” the report says.

The debate will be broadcast live on Wednesday evening. They will open at 21:00 Paris time and will last at least two hours. According to an Elabe poll released on Tuesday, 25% of the respondents admit they can change their decisions on who to vote for in the second round after this debate.

Turnout in Sunday's second round of the presidential election risks becoming the lowest since 1969, when 68.9% of the French voted, according to the Ipsos think tank.

According to the rating of the candidates, conducted by Ipsos, 56% of voters polled prefer Macron, while 44% of respondents are in favor of Le Pen.