French press review 20 June 2016

Two stories dominate this morning's French front pages. Thursday's United Kingdom vote on the future of the European Union and the weekend decision by French Socialists to organise a primary election to choose the party's candidate for the next presidential election.

DR

Right-wing Le Figaro notes that most opinion polls across the Channel suggest a neck-and-neck finish in the UK referendum.

Catholic La Croix says Europe might be better off without the troublesome neighbours, who have never been full participants but have always wanted full control. Except that their departure will cause a financial storm, probably slow economic growth even further and could see other member nations trying to get out or negotiate better conditions for staying in.

And the winner is . . .

Presidential primaries are all the rage. The Americans are having two and get Trump and Hillary as a reward. The French Republicans are having one with enough candidates to make two football teams, the subs and the fellah who runs on with the water bottle.

And now France's ruling Socialists, deeply divided on just about everything, including the chances of François Hollande to win a second five years at the helm, have decided to organise one of their own.

Le Monde says it's a purely political move, since the Communists, the Green Party and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's Lef Party have all said they won't participate. So the only people who'll get to vote on the future of François Hollande are supporters of the current president.

Communist L'Humanité says the move underlines the weakness of Hollande's position and effectively buries the hopes of the French left.

Left-leaning Libération wonders what Socialist Party rebels are going to make of the situation: after months of opposition to the party line on the economy and in open rebellion during the debate on changing labour law, the rebel Socialists are now going to have to choose someone to stand against Hollande. That won't be an easy job.

Support for labour protest remains high

Le Monde notes the results of a weekend opinion poll suggesting that 60 percent of French people continue to support the opposition to the new labour legislation. The level of support remains stable by comparison with the last such poll, carried out in early June.

Hard-left voters are the most enthusiastic, with 90 percent of them agreeing with trade union action to prevent the changes becoming law.

The poll suggests that the gradual decline in interest which the government had hoped would play against the protestors hasn't started yet.

But with new stoppages and marches promised for later this week and next, people may very soon start to become less enthusiastic.

Examining a sexism scandal in French literary circles

Le Monde also looks at a sexist scandal currently rocking the already troubled world of the French school-leaving exams, the famous Bac, short for "baccalauréat". Would you believe that, since 2003, the works of 22 writers have been proposed for consideration by the examiners in French literature and not once did they choose a woman.

All streams of the final exam considered over the same 13-year period, Le Monde finds texts from just three women, compared to 80 written by men.

Colette, Marguerite Duras, Simone de Beauvoir, Madame de La Fayette, Marguerite Yourcenar, Nathalie Sarraute are just a few of the names who, according to Le Monde, would merit inclusion because of the quality of their work, not because they are women.

The examiners could do better.