French press review 23 February 2017

Today's French papers delve into the country's presidential election campaign.

"Taubira: 'I do not believe in the inevitable defeat of the left'" is the front page headline in centrist Le Monde.

In an interview with the paper, Christiane Taubira, the ex-minister of justice says that differences within the country's political left are not prohibitive. That's to say they don't prevent the left from coming together and clinging to office in elections in the spring.

It sounds like wishful thinking and an odd choice of a lead story; maybe the paper was aiming for balanced coverage? Much of the reporting in recent weeks has focused on contenders from the political right.

Left-wing candidates, largely written off by the press as a result of the unpopularity of the Socialist president and government, have been lurking in the shadows out of the spotlight.

What's more, Le Monde was put to bed before the latest attention grabber in the race for the French presidency and can be forgiven.

Be that as it may.

In its front page cartoon Le Monde contributes to the ribaldry that's greeted the news that former President Nicolas Sarkozy has joined the board of AccorHotels.

He's pictured as a hotel receptionist checking in Socialist presidential candidate Benôit Hammon and hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melanchon.

They ask for two single rooms. Sarkozy says, "What you do in your private lives is not my business." An echo of reports that the pair are contemplating an alliance.

Not exactly a rib-tickler but enough to raise a smile.

Right-wing Le Figaro leads with the day's top story: "After a difficult week, Macron wants to believe in the rebound"

Emmanuel Macron is the multi-millionaire former investment banker, a free-market centrist who served briefly as Minister of Economy in the ruling Socialist government before quitting to join the congested race for the Elysée Palace with a movement he christened "En March": "On the Move".

An opinion poll published earlier this week showed he'd slipped five percentage points into second place behind François Fillion, the candidate of the centre-right les Republicains. This despite an unresolved scandal over Fillion's paying his wife Penelope and kids with taxpayers' money for questionable work.

Macron had offended more than a few voters by describing France's behaviour in Algeria, a former colony, as "a crime against humanity".

What's new and could improve his chance is the offer of an alliance from François Bayrou, a centrist candidate who polled a credible 18 percent in the first round of 2007 presidential vote.

"This is a turning point in the campaign but also a turning point in French political life," Le Figaro quotes Macron's spokesman as saying.

The significance of the alliance is not lost on left-leaning Libération the front page of which calls it "The Empire of the Centre".

Popular paper Le Parisien is more sceptical asking: "Two of them - is it really better?"

The paper says that "agreement was not self-evident between the two personalities, despite their common desire to 'go beyond the left-right divide'". François Bayrou has made a lot of criticisms of the former banker.

Le Parisien reports that Bayrou laid down four conditions, including no jobs for Macron's chums from the Socialist government, a clean up of public life, and a move towards proportional representation.

It seems fair to assume there will be a job for Bayrou in a Macron administration. Prime Minister perhaps?

In an online poll for readers the paper poses the question "Does the alliance improve the chances of Macron?"

Almost 6000 voted, with 50.6 percent saying "Yes" and 49.4% saying "No".

Your guess is as good as mine, it seems.

The financial daily Les Echos wonders if the alliance really is "the turning point".

It comes as François Fillon seemed to be riding out the so-called "Penelopegate" scandal and had regained the lead in opinion polls.

Bayrou wasn't doing too well in the polls and his latest book was largely ignored. Which might explain his decision to stand aside, the paper says.

Will this event be fatal for Fillion? It's still too early to know, concludes Les Echos.

More political shenanigans to come I'm sure.