French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and the chief of the main far-right party Jordan Bardella clashed in an ill-tempered debate Tuesday that exposed fierce tensions less than a week ahead of the most polarizing election in decades.
Attal, Bardella and far-left MP Manuel Bompard, representing the left-leaning coalition, exchanged accusations in a sometimes bruising live TV encounter, where discussion of issues was often drowned by a cacophony of voices.
Bardella's National Rally (RN) still has a clear lead in opinion polls ahead of Sunday's first round of voting in the parliamentary elections, followed by the left-leaning New Popular Front (NFP) coalition with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance lagging in third.