In the spotlight: 2022, the main challenge for regional and departmental elections
Audio 04:55
The abstention rate in regional elections should be high according to pollsters.
© AFP / Clément Mahoudeau
By: Norbert Navarro
10 mins
Publicity
Regional and departmental elections this Sunday, June 20 in France which promises to be neglected.
This is the paradox of this ballot, because "
we are moving towards a historic abstention, of the order of 60%
", warns, in
Le Parisien Dimanche
, the director of the Ipsos institute Brice Teinturier, whereas, from this evening, after 8 p.m. local time, will strike the hour for political calculations for the staffs of the parties who will have to decide what behavior they will take in the second round next Sunday, in the perspective of the presidential election of 2022 in France .
"
The result of regional especially can have important consequences for knowing what political landscape is emerging
, warns
Le Parisien Dimanche
.
Can Marine Le Pen gain credibility by taking a region for the first time?
wonders this newspaper.
Can the parties of the right and of the left survive the possible tensions between the two rounds
? So many questions that will agitate the staffs of the parties from this Sunday evening.
"
“
Never had a local election concealed so many underlying national issues,
underlines
Le Journal du Dimanche
.
According to its results, some potential future candidates for the Élysée will find new life.
Others will come out weakened.
"
Foreign powers trying to break into Africa
Maneuvers also in Africa, but maneuvers by foreign powers trying to break through there, in French-speaking Africa in particular;
starting with Russia, via means of soft influence.
Africa is "
more than ever a battlefield between foreign powers
", underlines
Marianne
, and in Africa too, "
soft power
" has become a "
weapon of war
".
The "
soft power
"?
Sweet power in good French.
Unlike hard force, that of weapons and military power, it looks like nothing, but surreptitiously, it can change the balance of power and end up achieving the objective sometimes much better than "
Hard power
" means
hard power
.
In this register, the media play a decisive role
Exactly.
Marianne
is particularly interested in someone close to Russian President Vladimir Poutine, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigojine, but also in the pan-African television channel Afrique Media TV. "
Integrated into the Media Press Africa group, it claims a" presence in more than 220 million homes "
thanks to satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasting,
reports
Marianne. It is also very present on social networks, with more than 650,000
subscribers on Facebook and thousands of videos on its YouTube channel. All day long, it retransmits the heated debates that are held on its set and feeds the anti-French narrative, without being too bothered with the facts,
”notes this weekly.
According to
Marianne
, “
the only thing that equals her hatred of France seems to be her love for Russia.
This country is presented as a "liberator", a "reliable ally" who will help the Africans to push out of Africa France which loots, kills and rapes the populations
".
TV, therefore, but also radio:
The "
many elements
" collected by this magazine "
give substance to the hypothesis of funding from the East
", he
states, thus noting that this pan-African channel has also
"
covered very closely the creation. of the local Central African radio station Radio Lengo Songo
”.
This weekly also evokes the obscure "
African Media Council
". Which, in 2018, had “
a Twitter account that only remained active two months before being deleted. Marianne found the archives of this account. Among the 18 subscribers it had before its deletion, we find the official account of the Africa network of Prigojine. So, is Afrique Media TV an integral part of the Russian influence strategy in Africa?
wonders the French magazine.
While it is impossible to be categorical at this stage, the accumulation of clues raises serious questions and will certainly give food to grind for those in Paris who are worried about the development of Russian influence in Africa
” , states
Marianne
.
General elections Monday in Ethiopia
The opportunity for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the war in Tigray, to try to re-legitimize himself.
Abiy Ahmed, "
this Nobel Prize in search of rebound
", launches
Le Journal du Dimanche
.
For lack of real opposition, which the Ethiopian Prime Minister has taken care to keep out of his way, his formation, the Prosperity Party, is "
the big favorite
" in Monday's poll in Ethiopia.
But reputation question, it is far from being won and in the end, these elections could "
tarnish a reputation of reformer and peacemaker already well under way
", predicts
The JDD
.
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Regional elections in France
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Ethiopia: legislative elections still a long way off for Tigray
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