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French press review 19 September 2016

French papers carry tributes as former French President Jacques Chirac aged 83, is rushed to hospital again with a lung infection.  

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Le Parisien

The paper reports that the popular Monsieur Chirac aged 83 who ruled France from 1995 to 2007 was flown home on Saturday-Sunday night from a long holiday in Morocco straight into the Pitié-Salpétrière hospital in Paris.

Some of today's newspapers evoke the strong influence the retired Monsieur Chirac still enjoys in French politics, despite as the two rivals in the opposition Republican Party primaries ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppé rushed on Sunday to tweet their concern and best wishes for his prompt recovery.

L'Est Républicain

The regional publication describes Jacques Chirac as "the last great custodian of General De Gaulle's legacy", adding that some presidential candidates are desperate to identify with. Yound conservative is named by the daily as one of the them.

According to the paper, has used Chirac's name to tackle Nicolas Sarkozy, stating that "unlike some politicians, Monsieur Chirac at least understood that trying to use force to resolve problems above the law always brings you ill luck".

For L'Est Républicain, Le Maire was directly stigmatizing Sarkozy's controversial military intervention in Libya as opposed to Chirac's wise refusal to be associated with the chaos George Bush provoked in Iraq.

Midi Libre

The publication says that the get-well messages pouring into the Pitié -Salpétrière hospital where Monsieur Chirac is admitted sound more like political posturing rather than anything else, considering the current political context in France.

Jacques Chirac it argues, was during his time an incarnation of the typical countryside politician, probably the last French President with a common touch and genuinely popular profile, qualities which are on the verge of disappearing from the French political landscape.

Midi Libre also recalls how the no nonsense Chirac criticized the United States from the rostrum of the United Nations as well as the 1996 incident in Jerusalem when he yelled and threatened Israeli security details blocking Palestinian crowds from greeting him.

The regional newspaper says it yearns for the feel good times of Chirac's era when a magnificent national team composed of blacks whites and beurs meaning French citizens of north African origin teamed up to win the football World Cup.

This as opposed to today's politicians struggling with endless social unrest, a deep identity crisis and growing security questions.

La Croix

In the buildup ot the 2017 presidential primaries, the Catholic daily criticizes the trend observed from the polls, showing that French voters are driven more by passion rather than reason.

According to the newspaper, judging from the offer made by the candidates standing in the primaries,there is not just a fragmentation but an overbidding of less substantive issues.

Le Figaro

The right-wing newspaper raises the issue of Israeli colonies in the West Bank which have not stopped growing over the last 50 years "jeopardizing" in the paper's opinion the creation of a Palestinian State.

According to the right-wing daily the international community appears ready to harden its stance as the 50th anniversary of the occupation approaches.

Le Figaro reports that in a report released last July, the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to halt its policy of continued construction and expansion. For Le Figaro a large consensus has emerged on the argument that the colonies based beyond the June 4, 1967 borders undermind the search of a 2-state solution.

 

 

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