In the spotlight: the battle of the rights

Audio 04:21

Eric Zemmour AFP

By: Frédéric Couteau Follow

4 min

Advertising

This start of the presidential campaign is clearly on the right… Eric Zemmour and Valérie Pécresse occupy a lot of space in the newspapers this Monday morning.

Indeed, notes

La Charente Libre

 : "

 Jean-Luc Mélenchon in a meeting and a few thousand 'anti-fascist' demonstrators in Paris were almost inaudible in a political weekend marked by the entry into the campaign of Eric Zemmour and the maneuvers to the leadership of the anti-Macron rights following the victory of Valérie Pécresse in the LR primary.

 "

The news gives Pécresse

 ", headlines

L'Opinion

. “

 Nominated candidate of the Republicans, the patron saint of the Ile-de-France region must fight between Emmanuel Macron and Eric Zemmour on two fronts. She must now make her mark,

believes the liberal daily,

and convince that she is a serious alternative to Emmanuel Macron and the extreme right. 

"

Macron-Zemmour: Can Pécresse loosen the noose?

 “, Ask

Les Echos.

“ 

Through her profile, Valérie Pécresse thinks she can take this big gap.

Baby Chirac having seen before his eyes 'separatism gaining neighborhoods';

techno reformer patinated by her experience as president of Ile-de-France.

She thinks she's ready to 'come and completely disrupt the movie,'

she said

.

And stop the double political recomposition at work for five years: that of a central pole around Emmanuel Macron, and that of the rights wanted in particular by Eric Zemmour.

 "

Pécresse able to compete with Macron?

Le Figaro

, for its part, begins to hope: “ 

Resurrection !,”

launches the newspaper.

All it took was an unequivocal militant vote to change everything. If it doubted it, the right now knows its line: 'pécresso-ciottiste'; clearly liberal, firmly conservative; demanding in economic matters, without weakness in immigration and security. (...) At the head of a united right - which is not the least novelty - Valérie Pécresse can now claim to compete with Emmanuel Macron,

continues

Le Figaro.

(…)

She has the means to stay the course of a right wing which firmly and serenely displays its courage and its convictions.

It would be very imprudent to maintain today that it has won the race.

But, for two days, it is clear that, for the Right, the game is not - is no longer - lost.

 "

Political potpourri?

For its part,

Liberation

deplores what it calls a

 political “

 medley

”: “ 

in one of the biggest political weekends of recent years, the presidential campaign has started. The only twist was the lack of surprises,

believes

Libé. Éric Ciotti could not worry Valérie Pécresse, Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not give up his place as the best tribune in France, Éric Zemmour did not seek to dilute the hatred of his words in his first big meeting after his' molt 'supposed

. "

Now, continues

Liberation

, “

 the list of candidates for the 2022 presidential election is almost complete, only Emmanuel Macron is missing.

(…) In the meantime, the collection of signatures, as well as the constitution and the restitution of a complete program will occupy many campaign teams in the weeks to come.

Above all, each camp is eyeing a growing figure,

again notes

Liberation: 40% of potential voters are still undecided.

In a context where abstention has been beating records in each local election since 2017, fetching these 'intermittent votes' becomes the main stake of all the candidates to hope to overthrow Macron. 

"

Covid: towards new restrictions?

Finally, the 5th wave of Covid ... and this question asked by

Le Parisien 

: " 

are we ready to accept further restrictions? A health defense council is being held on Monday to examine whether new measures need to be taken. Curfew and containment, our pet peeves, are not the order of the day, but the return of gauges, masks everywhere, are possible,

says the newspaper.

Doctors and epidemiologists call for action to be taken quickly.

 "With the objective of course to contain the epidemic and save the end of year celebrations ...

Indeed, “

 the calculation is final,

notes

Le Parisien: 40 million people can now catch the virus.

With the Delta variant, the vaccines are only 50% effective against infection and transmission, 25 million French people are likely to be infected and transmit the Covid.

And we must add to this figure 8 to 9 million children and 6 million unvaccinated.

"

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • French politics

  • Newspaper