French press review 1 April 2017

Union elections steal limelight from French Presidential campaign as moderate CFDT beats hardline CGT to become France's largest labour movement. And the battle for undecided voters fuels the race to the Elysée.

The papers welcome the defeat in union elections of the hardline leftist General Confederation of workers, notorious for shutting down the country in a wave of crippling strikes. According to the final tally of national polls, the moderate and democratic CFDT workers confederation is now the largest labour force both in the  private and public sectors, by a magin of 2 per cent ( 26, 37% to 24.85% for the CGT.

Right-wing Le Figaro wants to be on the frontline to celebrate the news. Friday, the 31st of March, it says will go down in French social history as a milestone.

According to the conservative newspaper, the CGT which has terrorised governments in France for decades under the pretext of working for the welfare of workers has at last fallen from the pedestal.

Through the latest union elections, Le Figaro says, salaried workers decided to send a powerful message to whoever becomes the country's next President -- first that they would no longer condone the dogmatic ways of the CGT and secondly that French workers are not necessarily opposed to change and reform.

La Montagne welcomes the historic clap of thunder occurring in the middle of the Presidential campaign arguing that the moderate CFDT's emergence as the leading union in the private sector paves the way for a larger recomposition of the union landscape with the possibility of witnessing the birth of a reformist bloc comprising moderate syndicates such as the CFTC and UNSA.

L'Alsace says it will not shed a tear for the CGT holding that by opting to be the union that always said "No", it took the risk of excluding itself from the workers world where negotiations have increasingly become the established rule. According to the regional paper, the CFDT is benefiting from the credibility it has acquired through non complacent talks with the employers and corporate chiefs' unions.

Thisis the "victory of negotiation over blind protests", crows La République des Pyrénées.

And for la Presse de la Manche, the CFDT's victory is the clearest signal that the world has changed and that the era of work stoppages, shut downs, gridlock, and dominating dictatorship as a religion have exhausted their charm.

From the campaign trail some commentators are keeping an eye on the battle to woo over large numbers of undecided voters estimated at around 40 percent of eligible voters.

Libération says original sins are hard to erase including the grave error committed by the French right when they decided to maintain Francois Fillon as their flag bearer despite the string of scandals for which he has been placed under investigation.

According to the left-leaning publication, the Conservatives are facing the risk of losing an election they had been tipped to win with Fillon languishing with just 17 per cent of voter intentions according to the very latest polls.

No one, Libé argues, can say with certainty whether moral considerations will prevail over partisan convictions but as it points out, unfortunately in democracy voters do end up being just as cynical.

Going by le Midi Libre's point of view, François Fillon over the past few days seems to have halted his descent to hell, rekindling the prospects of his qualification for the second round ballot.

La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest comments on the campaign dynamics in the left where it claims that the "On Bowed" Presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon has the wind in his sails while Socialist Benoît Hamon paddles. The momentum is clearly in Mélenchon's favour, its says. The paper explains that Monsieur Mélenchon has capitalised on the power of social media to promote his electoral manifesto and win over voters.

For L'Union/L'Ardennais, at the moment Mélenchon is clearly the champion of the Left, to a point where he has started dreaming of a possible ticket to the second round.

And the papers look forward to tonight's dream final of the French League Cup in Lyon between holders Paris Saint Germain and Premier League leaders Monaco.

"KO in the air" headlines the sports daily l'Equipe, as it rubs its hands in pleasant expectancy of tonight's showdown between the two best teams in France this season.