Four very different candidates stand a chance of making the head to head face off to see who will become the next French president. That means there are six possible duels. Here's a look at the potential winners and losers.

As everyone keeps saying, correctly of course, this French presidential election is a little bit bonkers.

That’s because, as everyone keeps saying, it’s like no other. Because never before have four very different candidates gone into the final week with a realistic chance of qualifying for the crucial second round or as the French say “dans un mouchoir de poche” (all in a pocket handkerchief – neck and neck).

Some polls put the difference between all four candidates at just four percentage points.

So the fact that liberal progressive Emmanuel Macron, far right populist Marine Le Pen, conservative François Fillon and hard leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon are all in with a chance of facing off in the second round on May 7th means there are six very different scenarios that need to be considered.

Note that none of them involve the traditional left v right clash, because Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon has fallen off his bike and is too far behind the peloton.

A face-off between the two frontrunners Marine Le Pen vs Emmanuel Macron is still just about the likeliest pairing in the run off vote, according to the latest polls.

This is the scenario Le Pen especially would choose to face and has already dubbed it "patriots vs globalists". Expect her to play on this division.

Le Pen vs Macron is being seen as a battle between old France and new France, “resignation” vs “optimism”, a closed country vs an open one, protectionism vs globalisation, a “free and independent France" versus a France that is an integral part of Europe.

Macron says Le Pen wants to take France back to the 1950s while he wants to pull it into the 21st century.

Le Pen says "Islamism would be on the move" under a Macron presidency where as Macron accused Le Pen of making enemies out of France’s Muslim population.

Everywhere you look there are clear battle lines. While everyone has talked of undecided voters, there presumably wouldn’t be many if this pair went head to head.

There may be abstentions though. True leftists from Mélenchon and Hamon’s camp may not be able to bring themselves to vote for pro-business Macron. Hardcore Republican supporters will also find both candidates unappealing.

Emmanuel Macron should beat Le Pen hands down by 66 percent to 34 percent, according to a Harris Interactive poll.

Fillon would need to go into exile if he does not make the second round, considering he was a shoo-in just months ago.

Just imagine the shock when at 8pm (or perhaps later, this year) on Sunday French TV stations broadcast the images of the two winners and it’s the face of hard left anti-EU, anti-globalisation Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s alongside the anti-EU, anti-globalisation figure of Marine Le Pen.

It would for many French voters, be the nearest thing to getting tasered. For those who work for the EU in Brussels it would more like getting tear gassed.

A battle between Mélenchon and Le Pen was described by former presidential favourite Alain Juppé as being like “the plague vs cholera".

Macron supporting veteran centrist François Bayrou said the prospect was "terrifying for the country and for its image and its future."

There is talk of a Black Monday with the financial markets going into meltdown the day after the result is announced due mainly to fears over a Frexit and talk of an imminent mass exodus by French entrepreneurs.

With Le Pen wanting to pull France out of the euro and Mélenchon wanting to introduce a 32-hour work week and tax earnings over €400,000 by 100 percent, French business leader Pierre Gattaz said a run-off between the paid would force France to choose between “economic disaster and economic chaos.”

Edouard Lecerf from polling agency Kantar Public believes this pairing of the two anti-system is still the most unlikely scenario because it would mean the whole centre of French politics would be eliminated.

Polls suggest the far left Mélenchon would win fairly comfortably by around 60 percent to 40 percent.

Le Pen or Mélenchon because both would then struggle to get a majority in parliament, plus those twitchy investors.

But the real loser would of course be François Fillon, who would be “crucified”, as one party big wig put it. Macron might also want to try and get his old job back at the bank.

Marine Le Pen had, according to polls and experts, already booked her place in the second round two years ago, but she could yet have her reservation cancelled at the last minute, with Fillon taking her place against Macron.

Fillon wants a “total rupture” for France’s economy including scrapping 35-hour week, raising the retirement age to 65, scrapping 500,000 public service jobs and making €100 billion worth of spending cuts.

Macron wants a more Nordic system of so-called compassionate capitalism with business friendly policies to free up the labour market and cut unemployment but still guarantee protection for the worst off.

Fillon says Macron is François Hollande in disguise

At least investors would be happy that Le Pen and Mélenchon had not made it.

This face-off must also be seen in the context of the parliamentary elections. The uncertainty of Macron’s likely lack of majority vs the stability of a Republicans majority that Fillon wold likely benefit from.

Abstainers? Many Le Pen voters The Local spoke to recently said they would not vote for any other candidate if she did not make the second round. And again real leftists may choose to abstain given that two business friendly candidates are in the last two.

However most on the left, appalled by the scandals around Fillon and put off by his free market policies would be expected to opt for Macron.

Macron would beat Fillon by an even greater margin than Le Pen, polls say 68 percent to 32 percent.

Could Le Pen be ousted from the leadership of the National Front after somehow not making the second round?

This is the pairing that has been giving voters on the left sleepless nights ever since Fillon won November’s primary ahead of the more centrist Alain Juppé. For them it would be a reminder of the nightmare 2002 election when Jean-Marie Le Pen faced Jacques Chirac.

Fillon, the man who lives in a château and who allegedly employed his wife on a lucrative but fake role as a parliamentary assistant and then barely apologized when it became public, not to mention his desire to impose Thatcherite reforms on France versus, well, Marine Le Pen. Leftwing voters would be in need of counselling.

This is the scenario that most experts believe gives Marine Le Pen her greatest chance, albeit still an outside one, of victory. That's because many Macron, Melénchon and Hamon voters may decide they just can’t vote for either candidate. But don't be surprised if, like in 2002, they block a President Le Pen.

Le Pen’s team have said in the past that facing Fillon will be a little more complicated for them given that the Republicans candidate also promises voters a hard line on her core issues of immigration, identity, Islam and security.

Nevertheless as Kantar Public’s Lecerf points out there are still clear battle lines, notably on Europe and the single currency as well as their economic plan to rejuvenate France. For example Le Pen wants to lower retirement age, Fillon wants to raise it.

Polls say FIllon's only chance of second round victory would be against Le Pen (58 percent to 42 percent).

The French justice system given that both Le Pen and Fillon have investigations against them and of course anyone on the left.

The latest polls suggest that these pair are still just about the outsiders, but they are the ones with the recent momentum. While Le Pen and Macron’s poll ratings have dipped slightly in the last month, Fillon and in particularly Jean-Luc Mélenchon have both gained ground. That momentum could continue until election day.

This battle would be fought on their economic programmes where they differ on pretty much everything, for a start Fillon wants to cut public spending by 100 billion over five years and Mélenchon wants to increase public spending by €173 billion over five years.

Perhaps the only thing they would agree on is their soft spot for Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin.

Who would win: Surprisingly polls say Mélenchon (58 percent to 42 percent) despite being considered the extremist, would come out on top against Fillon because he would sweep up the vote from the left as well as some anti-EU anti-system Le Pen voters.

That potential result will cause sleepless nights among those on the right, whose candidate Fillon was considered a shoo-in for the presidency just a few months ago.

Real loser: Le Pen would certainly come under pressure to quit if beaten by Mélenchon.

Could the right and far right really be eliminated from the second round? The French left, who feared annihilation not so long ago would be thrilled by this pairing. A battle between the traditional left and the modern business friendly left, it would be like another primary. Europe would be one of the main battlegrounds but also the economy.

The pair’s thoughts on divisive ride sharing company Uber sum the chasm that stands between them.

While Macron declared an Uber driver working up to 70 hours a week -- one of the few jobs readily available to low-skilled suburban youths in France -- had more "dignity" than someone without work, Melénchon blasted Uber as a "swindle” that offers work without social protection.

If Mélenchon did make the second round you would have to think that Hamon’s voters would go to him whereas the more centrist Fillon voters would switch to Macron. Many on the right would simply go on holiday for the long weekend, if not longer.

Macron would see off his rival fairly comfortably by 60 percent to 40 percent.

Le Pen and Fillon will both need to quit politics. </s> With the motives of the Champs-Elysées gunman considered terror-related, the timing just three days before the first round of the French presidential elections and during a prime time TV "debate" between all 11 official candidates clearly suggests that extremists are seeking to influence the tone of the debate - and perhaps its outcome.

If that was the aim, it was a success, as two candidates - Marine Le Pen, the far-Right Front National leader, and conservative François Fillon - cancelled visits on Friday - the final day of the campaign.

As they learned of the attack while on air, all the runners adapted their conclusions to pledge to protect the French. "Enough of laxism, enough of naivety," said Ms Le Pen in hers. "The fight against terrorism must be the absolute priority of the next French president," said Mr Fillon, who proposed arresting all suspects on an "S" watch list, like the gunman. </s> The stakes are high ahead of the contest between the pro-European Macron (left), a 39-year-old former economy minister, and far-right leader Le Pen (right), the 48-year-old scion of the National Front party. — File picPARIS, May 3 — French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen face off in a televised debate today which is expected to be bitter, personal and potentially decisive ahead of voting this weekend.

The stakes are high ahead of the contest between the pro-European Macron, a 39-year-old former economy minister, and far-right leader Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front party.

Their starkly different views of Europe, immigration, the economy and French identity will be explored for the first time face-to-face following a week marked by bruising clashes between them.

Polls show Macron holding a hefty but narrowing lead in the polls of 59 per cent versus 41 per cent, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have quickly shifted public opinion.

“Our goal is to avoid being dragged into mud-slinging,” an aide to Macron told AFP on condition of anonymity ahead of the two hours and 20 minutes of exchanges between the candidates.

Whatever the outcome, the event marks a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France’s political establishment to be an extremist fringe of racists that should be boycotted.

When her father Jean-Marie made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate him out of fear of “normalising hate and intolerance”.

Fifteen years later, Le Pen scored 21.3 per cent in the first round of the French election on April 23 after successfully softening the FN’s image — but without fully removing doubt about the party’s core beliefs.

She has consistently sought to paint her ex-investment banker rival as the continuation of unpopular President Francois Hollande and an advocate of uncontrolled globalisation, the financial sector and immigration.

“If he finds himself in difficulty, he can always ask Francois Hollande to come and hold his hand. I won’t complain,” Le Pen wrote on Twitter yesterday in a message signed by her personally.

Her sister Marie-Caroline compared him to “a boy with a bucket and spade” after the last debate on April 5 before the first round of voting.

Trailing in the polls, the face-off will be Le Pen’s biggest chance in front of a television audience to impress millions of views or induce an error by her opponent that could tilt the election in her favour.

Macron is expected to be wary of making mistakes but has signalled his intention to take on Le Pen and challenge what he calls “dangerous” ideas to tackle the country’s deep economic and social problems.

“I want to go head-to-head, to get to the bottom of the issues, to show that these are false solutions,” the independent centrist told BFM television yesterday.

Recent doubt about Le Pen’s stance on withdrawing France from the euro common currency could also give him an opportunity to target what is seen as a risky and unpopular policy by many voters.

A close aide said Macron would home in on “the complete backtrack on leaving the euro”.

Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen suggested at the weekend that talks about leaving the euro could take years, but Le Pen promised yesterday night to stick with her plans to introduce a new French franc if approved in a referendum.

“It’s not an unknown, it’s not a jump into the void,” she said during an interview with TF1 television.

In the face of the attacks on his background as a highly educated civil servant and banker, Macron is also expected to emphasise his personal story as a self-made man born to two doctors in provincial Amiens.

“I wasn’t born in a chateau,” he said this week, referring to the Le Pen family mansion on the outskirts of Paris where Marine and her sisters were brought up.

Sparks flew when they faced each other in the presidential debates before the first round of voting, when Le Pen memorably accused Macron of waffling for seven minutes and saying nothing.

Macron said she was transforming France’s millions of Muslims into “enemies of the republic.” — AFP </s> Security concerns took centre stage on Friday in the last days of France’s tight presidential race as candidates defended their stance on the fight against terror in the wake of a shooting in Paris which killed one policeman.

Voters will cast ballots in the first round on Sunday of what has turned into the most unpredictable French election in memory as the gap between four frontrunners narrows. The two candidates who get the most votes will then face off in a run-off election on May 7.

A shooting on Thursday night on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard in central Paris, in which one policeman was killed and two others were wounded, could bring campaigning to a sombre and abrupt end, however.

The shooting unfolded on the world-famous Paris site as presidential contenders were mid-way through back-to-back television appearances to sell their campaign programmes. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s Amaq news agency.

Some of the candidates later clashed over whether official campaigning, which has just one more day to run, should be brought to a full stop in light of the incident.

“In this current context, there are no grounds to continue campaigning. We must first show our solidarity with the police,” conservative candidate Francois Fillon told the France 2 show, after saying he would cancel a trip to the Alps on Friday.

Fillon, who has sought to reinforce his credentials as a hard-liner on security, added that fighting “Islamist totalitarianism” must be the priority for the next president.

Far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon said the candidates should not cave in to violence.

“As we wait for more definite information, I think we need to attend to our duties as citizens: no panic, we shouldn’t interrupt our democratic process,” Melenchon said.

Pollsters see centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen taking the top two places on Sunday and so going head-to-head in the run-off. That would break the normal rotation of power in France between the centre-left and centre-right.

Macron, a former banker who quit as economy minister last August to set up his independent “En Marche!” (“Onwards!”) movement, would beat Le Pen or any other candidate in the run-off, the latest polls show.

But these are so close that gaps between candidates in the first round fall within the margin of error.

Melenchon, propelled from wildcard to genuine contender thanks to feisty television performances and smart social media campaign, is virtually neck-and-neck with Fillon and only a few percentage points behind the frontrunners.

Security fears had already re-emerged in the run-up to a first ballot after an attack thought to have been targeted at some of the candidates was foiled earlier in the week. France has been hit by a series of deadly attacks since 2015.

Le Pen, who has stressed her plans to curb immigration in the last week as she tries to rally support, on Thursday night also seized on the latest incident.

“I don’t want us to get used to Islamist terrorism,” she told France 2. “We have to stop being naive. We can’t leave our children a country that is not able to defend them.”

Earlier in the evening, Macron also weighed in on the shooting, saying the president’s No.1 job was to protect people.

The election will decide the direction of France’s 2.2 trillion euro economy, which vies with Britain for the rank of fifth largest in the world. With eurospectics Le Pen and Melenchon in the race, the outcome could have a bearing on France’s place in Europe.

A Harris Interactive poll on Thursday showed Macron and Le Pen still in front, with the gap a bit wider than before. The centrist inched ahead to 24.5 percent while Le Pen was a bit weaker at 21 percent.

Fillon – an early favourite before his campaign hit the rocks following nepotism allegations that he has denied – scored 20 percent, meaning he was now gaining on Le Pen. Melenchon was stable on 19 percent.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now </s> PARIS – Security concerns took center stage on Friday in the last days of France’s tight presidential race as candidates defended their stance on the fight against terror in the wake of a shooting in Paris which killed one policeman.

Voters will cast ballots in the first round on Sunday of what has turned into the most unpredictable French election in memory as the gap between four front runners narrows. The two candidates who get the most votes will then face off in a run-off election on May 7.

A shooting on Thursday night on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard in central Paris, in which one policeman was killed and two others were wounded, could bring campaigning to a somber and abrupt end, however.

The shooting unfolded on the world-famous Paris site as presidential contenders were mid-way through back-to-back television appearances to sell their campaign programs. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s Amaq news agency.

Some of the candidates later clashed over whether official campaigning, which has just one more day to run, should be brought to a full stop in light of the incident.

“In this current context, there are no grounds to continue campaigning. We must first show our solidarity with the police,” conservative candidate Francois Fillon told the France 2 show, after saying he would cancel a trip to the Alps on Friday.

Fillon, who has sought to reinforce his credentials as a hard-liner on security, added that fighting “Islamist totalitarianism” must be the priority for the next president.

Far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon said the candidates should not cave in to violence.

“As we wait for more definite information, I think we need to attend to our duties as citizens: no panic, we shouldn’t interrupt our democratic process,” Melenchon said.

Pollsters see centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen taking the top two places on Sunday and so going head-to-head in the run-off. That would break the normal rotation of power in France between the center-left and center-right.

Macron, a former banker who quit as economy minister last August to set up his independent “En Marche!” (“Onwards!”) movement, would beat Le Pen or any other candidate in the run-off, the latest polls show.

But these are so close that gaps between candidates in the first round fall within the margin of error.

Melenchon, propelled from wildcard to genuine contender thanks to feisty television performances and smart social media campaign, is virtually neck-and-neck with Fillon and only a few percentage points behind the frontrunners.

Security fears had already re-emerged in the run-up to a first ballot after an attack thought to have been targeted at some of the candidates was foiled earlier in the week. France has been hit by a series of deadly attacks since 2015.

Le Pen, who has stressed her plans to curb immigration in the last week as she tries to rally support, on Thursday night also seized on the latest incident.

“I don’t want us to get used to Islamist terrorism,” she told France 2. “We have to stop being naive. We can’t leave our children a country that is not able to defend them.”

Earlier in the evening, Macron also weighed in on the shooting, saying the president’s No.1 job was to protect people.

The election will decide the direction of France’s 2.2 trillion euro economy, which vies with Britain for the rank of fifth largest in the world. With eurospectics Le Pen and Melenchon in the race, the outcome could have a bearing on France’s place in Europe.

A Harris Interactive poll on Thursday showed Macron and Le Pen still in front, with the gap a bit wider than before. The centrist inched ahead to 24.5 percent while Le Pen was a bit weaker at 21 percent.

Fillon – an early favorite before his campaign hit the rocks following nepotism allegations that he has denied – scored 20 percent, meaning he was now gaining on Le Pen. Melenchon was stable on 19 percent. </s> As she prepares to go head to head with runoff opponent and center-right candidate Emmanuel Macron, Front National party candidate Marine Le Pen is being increasingly portrayed as France’s own Donald Trump. While the two populists exhibit plenty of parallels, some historically-rooted variations in their approaches to isolationism, fiscal policy, religion and other hot button issues… </s> PARIS: French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe Wednesday in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country.

The duel ahead of Sunday´s election was billed as a confrontation between Macron´s call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen´s France-first nationalism.

The tone was set in the opening minutes, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister and investment banker "the candidate of the elite" and the "darling of the system".

Macron replied that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was "the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades", adding: "You play with fear."

The 39-year-old frequently branded Le Pen a liar and even a "parasite of the system", who he said lived off the frustrations of France´s blocked political system.

On Europe, Le Pen accused Macron of being "submissive" towards German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying: "France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel."

She also accused Macron of an "indulgent attitude" towards Islamic fundamentalism and constantly sought to remind viewers of his role as a minister in unpopular President Francois Hollande´s Socialist government.

But Macron was in combative form throughout, repeatedly portraying Le Pen´s proposals as simplistic, defeatist or dangerous and targeting her proposals to withdraw France from the euro in particular.

The euro policy "was the big nonsense of Marine Le Pen´s programme," he said midway through the 140-minute debate.

Le Pen called the euro, shared by 19 countries in the European Union and blamed by some in France for a rise in prices, as "the currency of bankers, it´s not the people´s currency."

Trailing in the polls, the debate was probably her last chance to change the dynamics of the race ahead of the final weekend of a long and unpredictable campaign.

A poll by the Elabe group for the BFM channel immediately afterwards showed that 63 percent of people interviewed found Macron the most convincing versus 34 percent for Le Pen.

Macron would win around 59 percent to 41 percent if the vote were held now, surveys suggest, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have shifted public opinion.

The duel marked a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France´s political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted.

When her father Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of "normalising hate and intolerance".

In the first round of the election on April 23, Marine Le Pen finished second scoring 21.3 percent after softening the FN´s image over the past six years -- but without fully removing doubt about the party´s core beliefs.

She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation seen in the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Britain´s decision to leave the European Union.

"I am the candidate of the people of France such as we love it, of the nation that protects jobs, security, our borders," she said in her opening comments.

The debate was unlikely to have swayed any committed supporters of either candidate, but it could influence the roughly 18 percent of undecided voters and others who were planning to abstain.

Like much of the French press, daily Le Monde deplored a "brutal debate" that was "violent from start to finish".

Many supporters of Communist-backed candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came fourth in the first round, have said they will not vote on Sunday, comparing the final round as a choice between "the plague and cholera".

President Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency.

"We are in a zone of absolute danger," warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. "Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy."

Hollande told reporters that "we shouldn´t think the result is a foregone conclusion" and urged Macron, his former adviser and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.

Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.

On Thursday, Macron will hold his final campaign meeting in the southwest town of Albi while Le Pen will have hers in Ennemain in the north. </s> The pair clashed in a live televised debate tonight, just days before the final round of voting in the crunch election. Front-runner Mr Macron told right-wing firebrand Ms Le Pen she has no concrete solutions to France's economic problems. The En Marche! candidate said: "You're always talking about the past, but the problem is you have nothing to propose.

"Your strategy, quite simply, is to lie a lot. You list all the country's difficulties and problems, but provide no solutions. "The French people deserve better than this. They deserve the truth, not insinuations." He later said: "I treat the French like adults, I don't lie to them."

He also attacked her party, saying the Front National represents the "spirit of defeat" by capitalising on the anger of voters. Mr Macron said: "For 40 years in this country, we have had Le Pens as candidates in the presidential election. "In the face of the spirit of defeat, I carry a spirit of French conquest. France has always succeeded in the world."

Outspoken Marine Le Pen hit back, branding Mr Macron a "smirking banker" and the "candidate of globalisation and Uberisation". She also accused the centrist of patronising her, saying: "Don't talk to me like a teacher to a student." The comment is likely a thinly veiled reference to Mr Macron's wife, who used to be his drama teacher when he was 15. </s> PARIS (AP) — The Latest on France’s presidential runoff between centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen (all times local):

Feminist activists have hung a big banner from a church to protest French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen in the depressed northern town where she is casting her ballot.

The activists were quickly detained after the protest Sunday in Henin-Beaumont, the latest among many actions in recent days against Le Pen or against both candidates.

Polls suggest centrist Emmanuel Macron is favored to beat Le Pen in Sunday’s runoff election.

Parisian voter Yves Robert staged his own kind of protest, casting a blank ballot. Many voters like him are both worried about the racist past of Le Pen’s National Front party and worried about the 39-year-old Macron’s inexperience or his pro-business policies.

Retiree Gabrielle Lebbe says she voted because she’s “worried for my grandchildren, I’m worried for the world.”

Voters across France are casting ballots in a presidential election runoff that could decide Europe’s future, choosing between independent Emmanuel Macron and far-right populist Marine Le Pen.

With Macron the pollsters’ favorite, voting stations opened across mainland France at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) under the watch of 50,000 security forces guarding against extremist attacks. Polling agency projections and initial official results will be available when the final stations close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).

The unusually tense and unpredictable French presidential campaign ended with a hacking attack and document leak targeting Macron on Friday night. France’s government cybersecurity agency is investigating the hack.

Either candidate would lead France into uncharted territory, since neither comes from the mainstream parties that dominate parliament and have run the country for decades.
Candidates Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron face off in a debate.