After Emmanuel Macron last Thursday, Marine Le Pen’s turn to be the exceptional guest of France Bleu in the program “Ma France” at 1 p.m. For an hour on Monday, the National Rally candidate answers questions from listeners, less than a week before the second round of the presidential election. This interview was recorded under live conditions this Monday morning between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. in the studios of France Bleu Normandie.
Two days before the big debate, scheduled for Wednesday evening against outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen answered many questions from France Bleu listeners. Health system, purchasing power, education, energy, public services, etc. Discover the answers of the candidate of the National Rally.
Marine Le Pen, guest of Ma France on France Bleu:
“The health system, priority of my five-year term”
To the question of a listener, nursing assistant in a public hospital, who is worried about the working conditions of health personnel, Marine Le Pen replied that this problem will be “priority” of her five-year term if she is elected President of the Republic. The candidate of the National Rally believes that with the Covid-19 pandemic, the French “became aware that the health system was in a situation of anxiety and total suffering“To remedy this, Marine Le Pen has indicated that she wants to release 20 billion euros, including 10 billion for caregivers”who are paid 10% less than the European average” and the remaining 10 billion to respond to the problem of medical deserts.
“We must change the objective of quality of careestimated the candidate. It is no longer necessary to place accountants at the head of the establishments but to set up a two-headed management with an administrative officer and a doctor“. For Marine Le Pen, the State must take responsibility for regional planning and in particular abolish the Regional Health Agencies (ARS). “I blame them for everything. They demonstrated their technocracy, their inability to adapt, their ideology. We have seen ARS completely drop the private sector when we needed it during the Covid“, castigated the far-right candidate. She wants to return to deconcentration around the prefects for “manage a health policy throughout the territory“.
Marine Le Pen also criticized Emmanuel Macron’s late decision to end the numerus clausus, which limited the number of places in medical school. “He could have done it at the start of his five-year term, we would have saved time“, she felt. “In the meantime, we have to think about how we do it. I want to develop telemedicine and develop all healthcare staff“.
Marine Le Pen believes that Arnaud Montebourg would have its place in his government
In the event of a presidential victory, who would make up Marine Le Pen’s government? This is what a listener from Hérault sought to find out, asking him in particular who are the experienced profiles who surround the candidate. “There are people around me that you don’t know, who are very competent. Go read my program to make sure“, she replied. She had so far mentioned only one name, that of Jean-Paul Garraud who could occupy the post of Minister of Justice. “He was a magistrate all his life, president of a magistrates’ union, rapporteur of the law against the full veil, at the origin of the creation of the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office“ justified Marine Le Pen.
If she has not mentioned other names for the moment, it is because she believes that it will be after the legislative elections (June 12-19) that she “will look everywhere for those who seem to me to be the best in their field“, to form a “government of national unity“Marine Le Pen wants to be able to find profiles on the right, as well as on the left.”It could even go as far as a profile like that of Arnaud Montebourg. We share the same lines when it comes to defending French companies“.”We do not think the same thing on a certain number of subjects, but in the field of the defense of French industry, of French industrial sovereignty. When he resigned precisely to oppose the sale of Alstom, he showed courage and he shares on this subject there, in any case, the same line as mine“.
“My father was not in a position to govern”
Marine Le Pen was also questioned on what differentiates her from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, president of the National Front and several times candidates for the presidential election. “There are a thousand differences between him and me, we don’t have the same background, the same age, he’s a man, I’m a woman. He was first president of a protest movement, then of opposition. Me, I’ve been on the front line for 20 years and my father was not in a position to govern“, explained the candidate. She notably recalled her fundamental attachment to the work of General de Gaulle. “My project takes inspiration from the heart of this Fifth Republic, which has been weakened, which is less and less secular, less and less democratic. I want to restore a government of the people, by the people and for the people“, explained Marine Le Pen.
“The State will have the mission of demetropolisation”
Another question from a listener of France Bleu, that of territorial inequality. What does Marine Le Pen want to do about traders who are struggling to keep their business in small towns? The candidate drew up the report of a State which for 30 years has “abandoned spatial planning, which let the market take over. Metropolises suck energies, jobs, companies, etc. The State will have the mission of demetropolisation“, said the candidate of the National Rally.
It intends to set up tax incentives for businesses setting up in rural areas. “We are going to rebalance the territories by tax incentives for companies to come and set up in precisely areas where they have disappeared, by road development, by infrastructure development, by motorway exits which will make it possible to open up entire territories”.
“There will therefore be jobs, therefore families, schools, public services, transport and therefore traders. It is a virtuous circle that I want to restart“, pleaded Marine Le Pen. She intends to restore power to mayors, in particular that which concerns town planning. “I want to give powers back to mayors, for democracy of proximity and control. Everyone knows what to do. Today, there is such a magma of competence, no one understands who does what, the citizen no longer knows who to contact“, she criticized. In particular, she pointed the finger at the shopping center facilities on the outskirts of cities, which caused damage to the activity of the city centers. “If the State had assumed its role in terms of regional planning, we would not be here.“.
An answer that echoed the question of another listener, a postman in the Vaucluse, and worried about the disappearance of public services in rural areas. “I share your positionreplied Marine Le Pen. Citizens ask the question: ‘Where does the money go?’ Taxes have increased but there are fewer and fewer public services“. The far-right candidate notably castigated the closures of small hospitals to create “huge structures“, obliging “people to travel tens of kilometers to seek treatment“.”It makes no sense, it’s the organization of a developing country, it’s not the organization of a developed country“.
“I am fundamentally opposed to retirement at 65”
Another key theme of the presidential campaign, the question of pensions. Marine Le Pen explained her wish to restore the half-share of widowers and widowers. She also indicated her desire to reindex pensions on inflation. She mainly displayed her fundamental opposition to retirement at the age of 65. “I find that terribly unfair. And this is not justified either by the Pensions Orientation Council“, lambasted the candidate. “I say a simple thing, the earlier we started working, the harder we worked, and the sooner we have to leave.” retired.
Marine Le Pen indicates that “people who start working before the age of 20, will leave with 40 annuities at age 60“. She added that “gradually, as the age of entry into the system progresses, we will reach a maximum of 62 years of legal age and 42 annual contributions. That’s social justice and objectively, that’s a choice I make. It is perfectly sustainable from a budgetary point of view and it is a political choice“.
The candidate clarified that a person “who will return between the ages of 17 and 20“in working life, will win”two years and one term“compared to the current system.”Whoever returns at 23 will earn another three quarters of retirement“, she boasted.
Asked by a listener about purchasing power, Marine Le Pen explained her goal of returning “150 to 200 euros on average per household in France“. She recalled the series of measures that she will put in place in the event of victory in the presidential election: such as reducing VAT on all energy from 20% to 5.5% or abolishing VAT entirely a basket of a hundred basic necessities (food, hygiene products) For this last measure, the candidate announced that this basket would be decided in consultation with consumer associations.
Increase the number of hours of teaching fundamentals
Marine Le Pen was then questioned about National Education, responding to the concern of a listener to note the decline in the school level among students. “The level of French students is collapsing. We stuck to the idea that our system was the best in the world, but we didn’t see that it had deteriorated deeply.“, criticized Marine Le Pen. She indicated her intention to take everything back to basics, in particular by increasing the number of hours of teaching the fundamentals: French and mathematics.
It set the maximum threshold of 20 pupils in primary and 30 in lower secondary. In particular, she insisted on the revaluation of teachers’ salaries. “They are almost the lowest paid in the entire European Union. I therefore wish to revalue them by 3% per year to reach 15% at the end of the five-year term.“. Marine Le Pen criticized her opponent Emmanuel Macron and his proposal to “pay teachers based on student performance“.”It’s deeply unfair“, protested the candidate. “There are places where for reasons x or y, the level of the students has nothing to do with the quality of the teacher. Emmanuel Macron sees teaching in an accounting way, as is the case for hospitals, moreover, a very shocking neoliberal way because school is not just about student results, it’s about teachers who raise children“.
Marine Le Pen was also asked about the status of accompanying persons with disabilities (AESH) by welcoming the policy of inclusion of children, “one of the finest policies that France has pursued“. The candidate wishes to revitalize it and consolidate the status of AESH who “are in a precarious situation“, according to the candidate. She indicated that France had a lot of catching up to do, especially in the field of autism.