The five candidates competing in France's social-democratic primary faced off on Sunday in a final televised debate on BFM-TV that ran for more than three hours and unfolded under visible tension, Le Monde reported.
Those on stage were Olivier Faure, Raphaël Glucksmann, Jérôme Guedj, Emmanuel Maurel and Ségolène Royal. The first round of the primary is scheduled for Oct. 9 and 10.
"The spectacle we gave for twenty minutes was shameful."
That remark, carried in Le Monde's account of the evening, captured the atmosphere of the closing encounter between the contenders before voting begins.
