Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, two candidates who are set to face-off in the second round of French presidential elections have taken part in a two-hour head- to-head live television debate.

The event, which took place on Wednesday night, was moderated by Arlette Chabot and Patrick Poivre d'Arvor from TF1 and France 2, two of the leading French television channels. The two candidates tackled numerous themes such as debt, security, public sector reforms, employment, housing, taxation, education and Europe.

Royal criticized Sarkozy's "performance" in the outgoing government, calling on the French people to be "bold" and elect a woman to the helm of the country. Royal also promised to create a "peaceful" France and to gather the French people in order to build a country that is both "creative and imaginative."

Sarkozy, on the other hand, talked of a "moral crisis" in French politics and criticized state "handouts," and made the case particularly for "merit," "effort" and "social advancement".

The debate was broadcast live by at least nine other French television stations, as well as on the internet, radio channels and several foreign news channels. Experts reckon that about 20 million people watched the debate.

Until now, a number of opinion polls have shown that Sarkozy will win the second round of these elections. Nevertheless, the same studies have also revealed that about 6.8 million voters who supported centrist candidate Francois Bayrou and the 3.8 million who supported far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen during the first round of the election remain undecided.

Bayrou, who recently took part in a debate with Royal, has so far refused to advice his supporters on how to vote, while Le Pen on Tuesday called on his supporters to abstain massively from the second round of the elections.

Source: Xinhua