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French press review 22 August 2016

Arnaud Montebourg warns President Hollande to drop re-election plans as Socialist rebels evicted from the government, plot their revenge. And France banks on Olympic medal haul to boost Paris' bid to host the 2024 games.

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Former French economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who announced his bid to challenge President Hollande in the 2017 Presidential elections is the star of the day. The maverick left-winger who was the third member of the cabinet fired for criticising the President described Hollande's record "undefendable" and urged him to "think long and hard" before seeking re-election.

LibΓ©ration

The paper holds that Montebourg's entry into the ring brings the number of leftist candidates in the Presidential primaries to eight adding that there are real concerns about a void in terms of ideas and the risk of hardline leftists causing the elimlination of the Left in the 2017 presidential elections.

Les Echos

The economic newspaper satirises about the high numbers of young politicians aspiring to champion political renewal in France. There is something for everyone, jokes the paper, from Arnaud Montebourg's "Social Gaullism", Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron's progressist revolution , the "leftist agenda" of former education minister BΓ©noit Hamon, young conservative Bruno Le Maire's "proximity" and the "modernity" of ex-environment minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.

Les Echos doubts the capacity of these so-called "sharp shooters" to sell their messages and to meet the expectations of public opinion.

Le Figaro

"Its all about the settling scores" observes the right-wing publication arguing that President Hollande's five year term of office has only exacerbated the divisions and deepened the disputes between the former political chums.

L'Opinion

The primaries are "a stab in the back for the Socialist party described by the paper as "a dead man walking", with President Hollande "forced to go on his knees by catastrophic results,record unpopularity and by an army of "Bruti" or traitors pushingΒ Β  anybody but Hollande agenda". L'Opinion says it is saddening to watch former ministers who are "hurling abuse at the the Head of State and tearing his record into pieces".

L'HumanitΓ©

The multiplication of Socialist Presidential candidates is a ploy to eliminate left-wing critics of the government from the race, according to the Communist newspaper. It argues that a serious debate on substantive issues about the Left will be imperative to prevent the pre-campaign arguments from blossoming into ideological rifts.

France and Rio Olympics

L'Equipe

The sports daily hails Team France for their "almost perfect" performance after they brought home 42 medals including 10 gold, results which took everyone by surprise.

La Croix

As Paris promotes its bid to hoist the 2024 Olympics which will be attributed in 2017, the Catholic publication, says there are lessons to draw from the Rio Games.

"Beyond the classical marketting operation, it explains, "sponsors have to decide quickly about the message France, its sportsmen and the capital city wish to convey to the world.

For La Croix, Paris must promote the idea of a world of greater solidarity, and a sustainable way of life, where there will be a more spirited crackdown against doping.

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