French weekly magazines review

François Hollande is boosted by his victory in the Socialist primaries ... but is their a hidden Hollande? Can President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP find it and save his electoral prospects? And where are Kadhafi's missing weapons?

What a week it has been for François Hollande, the comeback kid of the Socialist Party, who is now set to lead the left to what the polls predict will be an emphatic victory in the 2012 presidential elections. “Hollande the conqueror”, “Hollande’s intimacy revealed”, “Hollande spineless politician”? These are the captions of France’s three most respected weeklies.

Very conservative Le Point has a 14-page special, as it tries to read what it claims is the former Socialist leader’s “concealed character". The weekly claims that the “mask” came off as the Socialist primaries ended. Hollande, it says, remains concerned that some sniper fire that could come from inside enemies. He is, however, poised to capitalise on the legitimacy conferred on him by the landslide victory in the primaries - 57 per cent to 43 for party machine chief Martine Aubry.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to Le Point, is gambling on the theory that Hollande will be the prisoner of the coalition backing his presidential bid. The weekly says they have in mind anti-globalisation campaigner Arnaud Montebourg, the Green party and radical leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon. The ruling party strategists also hope to use some of the ammunition tested against Hollande during the party primaries, according to Le Point.

The right-wing magazine also highlights assertions by ruling party attack dogs, that France’s Triple A credit rating would be downgraded, if François Hollande gets to implement his economic policy.

Le Canard Enchaîné ridicules the cacophonic rush by the UMP strategists to attack Hollande’s character and record. The campaign is just beginning and the satirical weekly warns that the dirtiest tactics are still to come.

It says the Elysée hopes to showcase “Super Sarko’s” hosting of the G-20 against Hollande’s staging of small farm shows in his debt-ridden home region Corrèze. According to Le Canard, this only demonstrates that Hollande is seen as the greatest threat facing the president.

L’Express explains that the hour of the rose - the Socialist Party's symbol - has come and, if François Hollande doesn’t face up to reality, reality will face up to him. The comment refers to Hollande’s flagship plan to launch an emergency programme for youth and senior-citizen employment once he gets into office. That represents 200,000 contracts annually, running up to 500,000 when it reaches full cruising altitude.

L’Express looks for clues to Hollande character, scrutinising his inner circle, his partner Valérie Trierweiler, his four children with Ségolène Royale as well as his lifetime passions.

The conclusion is that his personality is more complicated than many people believe. One lawmaker told the journal that Hollande is the nicest man he ever met, but he quickly noted that he is someone who is never there when you need him most.

Le Nouvel Observateur puts up a strong defence for François Hollande’s presidential ambitions. The magazine says he is the perfect anti-Sarko, confident of his chances of winning the presidency on 6 May 2012.

Le Nouvel Obs claims he is banking on his style, his character and his ideas, which are in stark contrast with Nicolas Sarkozy’s reputation. Hollande it says, will not hesitate to throw at Sarkozy all the blows he didn’t unleash against members of his own party during the primaries.

Le Nouvel Observateur also has profiles of the men and women, both from the left and the right, who are spearheading François Hollande’s presidential campaign. Surprisingly, the list includes experts who may have been lured by Jacques Chirac’s “Corrèzian humour”, when he endorsed Hollande and backtracked after his remarks caused an uproar within the ruling party.

The French weeklies also examine the mortal legacy of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi. L’Express raises the alarm about the large quantities of lethal weapons from Colonel Kadhafi’s arsenal currently circulating in the Sahara and Sahel. The weekly reveals that the missing weapons include thousands of ground-to-air missiles with a range of 3,000 to 4,000 meters and the capacity to shoot down planes.

Hundreds of British-made Manpad anti-aircraft missiles stolen from Kadhafi’s air defense sites are feared to be in the hands of Al-Qaeda operatives. L’Express warns that pro-Kadhafi armed gangs could reinforce the complex web of the Mafia and terrorism. One expert told the journal he suspects that some of the weapons have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip via the Sinai through tunnels in Rafah.