In the press - First round of legislative elections in France: "Successful bet for the left?"

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On the front page of the press, the reactions to the first round of legislative elections in France, where Nupes is on an equal footing with the presidential majority.

The first round of these legislative elections is also marked by record abstention, around 52.5% - a level of abstention that

sees not as proof of the "disinterest" of the French in politics, but as the manifestation of their "frustration at the lack of consideration of situations of injustice", and their "feeling that their concerns are not addressed".

Emmanuel Macron "has bet on a sluggish campaign, convinced that abstention would play in his favor. It was to make a mistake in the diagnosis", writes the newspaper.

EDITO ✒️ The return of politics, by @idegaulmyn

👉 The mechanism of the Fifth Republic which saw voters almost automatically give the elected president a comfortable legislative majority has stalled.

https://t.co/XFaBrhpkkV pic.twitter.com/JiYovCYNDo

— The Cross (@LaCroix) June 12, 2022

Another daily, same verdict: "A serious setback for the president", says

, which sees the presidential camp moving "towards a narrow majority" in the Assembly.

"By trying to chloroform the entire campaign, by tactical calculation or strategic hesitation, (Emmanuel Macron) will only have succeeded in nurturing abstention. And stifling in the bud the dynamic that the presidential election could have created in his favor" .

finishes driving the point home: "Proof has been made that the absence of proposals is not a good campaign strategy. By dint of responding with silence to the excesses of one's opponents, by dint of betting on the effects positive of mass abstention, the majority Together! let doubt settle among its voters:

pic.twitter.com/JBWIAvEuTc

— l'Opinion (@lopinion_fr) June 13, 2022

On the left, Nupes led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon is making a strong comeback, but cohabitation seems out of reach.

According to

, the boss of La France insoumise has "succeeded in his bet" to become the main opposition force to Emmanuel Macron, but probably not to impose himself as his future Prime Minister, insofar as Nupes has little reserve of votes - which forces him to turn to the abstainers.

"Convince the millions of voters who did not turn out in the first round":

wants to believe that a majority on the left is "within reach of the ballot box", while recognizing that "the objective may seem difficult to achieve reach".

On the front page of Humanity tomorrow: find our analyzes and our spotlight on revealing constituencies of the situation the day after this 1st round in our June 13 edition.

To be found this evening on our digital kiosk: https://t.co/gDg6AhYAgA pic.twitter.com/N2sh9IZFTj

- Humanity (@humanite_fr) June 12, 2022

Like the French press, foreign dailies, and in particular the Spanish newspaper

, present these results as a "punishment" inflicted on Emmanuel Macron.

In Germany, the

speaks of a "clear warning" sent to the head of state, who "probably will not be able to obtain an absolute majority on his own", and will have to count on the support of his former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and his Horizons party and that of the former Minister of Justice François Bayrou, with Modem.

In Lebanon,

sees "Macronie shaken, but not on the ground" and notes, in passing, that the National Rally has failed to "capitalize" on the dynamics of Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, even whether the contingent of National Rally deputies should be much larger after the second round.

Be that as it may, the opposition should be present in force in the future assembly, and

is already predicting that "it's going to rock" at the Palais Bourbon.

The Belgian daily sees in the "awakening" of the left the sign that "the time is for social emergency".

"He who had been taxed as 'president of the rich' in the first five-year term will not be able to bet only on the theory of 'trickle down'",

#LeSoirDuJour "Macron: seven days to save his absolute majority"

To discover in bookstores or in digital version: https://t.co/vsvqkZkC2p pic.twitter.com/xfX25z0q0U

– The Evening (@lesoir) June 13, 2022

Emmanuel Macron, whose visit to Ukraine seems to be taking shape.

According to

, citing European sources, French President, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi are planning to visit Kyiv on Thursday June 16 – a plan that is not yet confirmed, however. officially.

The trip, if maintained, would be the first to Ukraine since the start of the war for the three leaders, at a time when Ukrainians say they fear weakening Western support, according to

.

In Russia, the last official figures of soldiers killed in Ukraine date back to March 25.

A void that the media have tried to fill by listing and publishing the names of the disappeared in their region.

According to Elena Trifonova, co-founder of a local newspaper in Buryatia, a province 3,000 kilometers east of Moscow in northern Mongolia, Russian authorities are now also seeking to ban these "memory walls". ".

Questioned by the Swiss daily

, this journalist affirms that "the special operation", remains, despite everything, largely supported by the population.

"To criticize the war, she explains, is equivalent to saying that the death of a relative, a friend, an acquaintance is useless. (...) It is a learned helplessness. And people, too,

About loneliness and helplessness…

wondered how, precisely, to try to “fix” the world, to make it better, even on a small scale, even on an individual level.

"Of course the big things matter. Of course voting and politics are important" but "some practices, however small, are profoundly meaningful," the newspaper argues, citing, for example, having conversations with others "face-to-face", as we say now, eye to eye, to leave home, to open a book, or even to engage in this interesting exercise: to seek the best arguments used by those with whom we do not agree.

A practice that requires humility and curiosity…

Find the Press Review every morning on France 24 (Monday to Friday, at 7:20 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. Paris time).

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