French press review 16 June 2017

Former Conservative Minister NKM in hospital after campaign attack and a face-lift for  ex-President Hollande as French economy crosses the 25 million salaried workers in France for the first time in history.

We begin with reactions to a bizarre campaign incident that left right-wing Republicans, parliamentary candidate Nathalie Kosciusko- Morizet, unconscious Thursday.

Media reports said the clash with a protestor occurred while she distributed leaflets of her campaign at a market in Central Paris ahead of Sunday's run-off vote.

Le Parisien says she lost her balance when the man allegedly tried to throw her campaign leaflets in her face, possibly hitting her head as she fell to the ground.

The paper reports that she blacked out for several minutes before being revived by emergency services and then rushed to hospital where she is undergoing treatment.

Le Parisien also says it is able to report the opening of a police investigation into the  attack, by the man who is still on the run.

La Charente Libre says the attack by someone who simply doesn't agree with the candidate could have been a good topic for the ongoing Baccalaureat examinations.

The regional paper observes that violence and politics has become a most preoccupying issue in this campaign.

It accuses Henri Gaino, a former adviser to President Sarkozy, knocked out in the race by Madame Kosciusko- Morizet, as one of the politicians who are to blame for the ugly atmosphere  in some constituencies.

La Charente claims that Gaino has not stopped doing the media houses in Paris, to denounce the selfish interests of some that led to his political demise.

La Nouvelle République says that notwithstanding the senseless attack against NKM, the incident spells doom for the Republican candidate blamed by her aggressor as the cause of Socialist Anne Hidalgo's ability to hold on to the City of Paris .

The paper says it feels even more saddened by the fact that she stands a very slim chance to hold her seat from the tough constituency where an ally of President Macron took a commanding lead in the first round ballot.

La Voix du Nord welcomes the messages of support for NKM streaming in, even from political opponents like Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, National Front leaders Marine Le Pen and even from the “Unbowed” chieftain Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The paper points to a paradox in this period of political upheaval - the French people are trying to rid politics of the blind confrontation which characterized the power play between the left and the conservatives for decades and the excesses such as the physical violence Nathalie Kosciusko- Morizet, was subjected to.

The regional newspaper recalls that before her, the rise of violence was already evident during the conflict over the EL Khomri Labour Laws when some offices of the Socialist party came under attack by vandals.

La Voix also denounces what it claims is a hateful climate on Twitter where people hide behind pen names to commit all sorts of excesses.

And talking about Sunday's elections, La Croix says it's a long electoral season inaugurated by Republican Party primaries in August 2016 which is about to come to an end.

According to the Catholic newspaper the period political upheaval will be remembered for causing the elimination of confirmed competitors such Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain Juppé, François Hollande, Manuel Valls, François Fillon and Marine Le Pen, in favour of the youthful Emmanuel Macron.

L'Humanité awaits the forecast landslide for President Macron's party, it warns the lawmakers looking to take the house by storm, not to forget that they will bear the historic responsibility of what the paper describes as "overseeing the greatest erosion of hard earned rights in French history".

Les Echos notes for the record that France has crossed the threshold of 25 million wage-earners for the first time in its history. According to the economic newspaper, close to 300.000 jobs were created in a year, confirming the facelift in job creation President François Hollande boasted about, towards the end of 2014.