French press review 26 October 2009

by Marjorie Hache

Article published on the 2009-10-26 Latest update 2009-10-26 09:02 TU

L'Humanité is leading with rivetting French regional elections.

The French left has been torn by internal disputes over the past so many years if not decades. At the weekend, the French Communist Party suggested a party list for the Front de gauche élargi or the "enlarged leftist front" for the elections set to take place in March 2010.

The main story in left-wing paper Libération is about drug dealers and deliquents ruling the council estate of Sevran in Seine Saint Denis. Libé highlights the daily lives of people of this suburb of Paris who have to adapt their living schedules or times when to go to and from their houses to the timetables of cannabis dealers. The Mayor of Sevran has suggested decriminalised class B drugs in a bid to ease tensions and make life easier for the people.

Libé's report also investigates other areas in France. Drug dealers in Lyon tell the paper they believe that if cannabis was legalised there would no longer be any violence. French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot is quoted as saying that drugs "are part of our modern societies, it's a reality and worry as well. But it is not a fatality... We can't ignore them and remain inactive."

The conservative daily Le Figaro has on its cover Eric Besson's claim that the Burka is contrary to French national identity. French immigration minister, Besson is still facing criticism after the expulsion of three Afghan migrants last week. He's trying to defend his action and  wants to relaunch a sense of  pride in being French and a common knowledge of French history, values etc. etc.

At the weekend, French daily Le Monde lamented the never-ending debate on the Burka saying it is now becoming a trap due to the way  the Burka and the Islamic headscarf are being mixed up. Le Monde's Stéphanie Le Bars says that, in a way, this could complicate the normalising of the presence of Islam in France.

Finally French finance paper Les Echoes mentions the bid by French metro company, the  RATP, to become one of the world's top five urban transport companies.