French press review 5 November 2016

Unprecedented electoral drama unfolds in the United States as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump offer starkly different visions of America three days before the election.

US Presidential Elelctions

We expected a Shakespearean drama but what we are having is a farce and a comedy written with ink from a garbage can, grumbles Le Figaro. According to the right-wing publication, this is probably the first time in the history of American elections that the campaign is marred by an exaggeration of insults.

Let's not blame Donald Trump for everything argues the paper. For Le Figaro gutter talk satire, foul language and rudeness have become part of so-called modern ways of expressing ourselves. The paper advises French voters to watch out and be careful not to copy the circus happening in the American Presidential election.

Le Monde looks at  the decision by the FBI director James Comey to probe a new trove of emails which he claimed could shed more light on Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information without knowing whether or not the new emails were relevant.

According to the newspaper, Comey broke with the FBI's rules of not opening an inquiry two months before an election to avoid influencing the outcome of the vote.

Le Monde argues that even if he evoked his obligation to inform the US Congress Comey violated the jurisprudence, the damage is done and he has more or less legitimated claims by Republican hawks that Mrs Clinton had endangered US State secrets thereby interfering in a flagrant manner in the Presidential campaign.

According to Le Monde, James Comey's reckless conduct has cast a dark shadow on the impartial reputation of the Federal police agency and tarnished the election irrespective of who emerges victorious from the race to the White House.

Turkey

Several newspapers voice concern about the severe difficulties internet users in Turkey experienced on Friday in accessing social media after the country was plunged into new turbulence by the detention of its main pro-Kurdish leaders.

According to Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France, the messaging service WhatsApp,Twitter, Facebook, YouTube crippled by severe problems of access. The problems follows a recent remarks by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim that "from time to time for security reasons they can use such measures".

Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace says it is not surprised by the new drift in the destruction of freedoms in Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the veil off his hidden process to become the undisputed leader of the country.

The paper described the censorship the latest signal of the waning influence of Europe which no longer has the ability frighten anyone, not Turkey which can blackmail the EU with the hordes of refugees piling up on its frontiers.

According to Sud-Ouest, Erdogan knows there is nothing to fear either from Europe or the United States as they desperately need him in their war against the Islamic State.

For La Charente Libre, Turkey's NATO allies have nothing else to do but cave in to the more or less shameful option of real politics which consists of allowing Erdogan to do as he pleases as long as he allows them to use the southern borders and especially its Incirlit base where airstrikes against the Islamic State are launched.

Midi Libre argues because Erdogan can't tolerate the threats he is receiving he has embarked on an arm-twisting battle with the EU jeering at them in his speeches after allying itself with Russia, and leading his country towards military escalation just like Bashar el-Assad in Syria.

His anti-democratic behaviour is not at all reassuring fo the future of the planet says Midi Libre. It claims that it is something that is already evident when you look at the geopolitical map of the world.

As Midi Libre points out, there is Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey and may be Donald Trump in the United States tomorrow, a truly explosive cocktail.