French press review 11 May 2017

Four days from Emmanuel Macron's inauguration, commentators wonder if he will benefit from the period of grace enjoyed by his predessors. And will Donald Trump live to regret the sacking of FBI Director James Comey?

Le Monde says Macron is already being challenged and his legitimacy thrown into doubt by some of his adversaries who believe the time to fight him is now and not after the legislative elections.

The newspaper argues that it would be the least of democratic decencies to allow Emmanuel Macron to the time he needs to settle down in his office, appoint his cabinet and start work before the hounds start going after him.

Le Figaro sheds light on the quite elaborate operation Macron has put in place to guide his “On the Move” party’s assault on the National Assembly. As they prepare this Thursday to unveil the list of candidates for the parliamentary polls scheduled in June, the right-wing publication reports that out of the 577 candidates “En Marche” plans to present, only 450 have so far received the party’s endorsement.

The rest will be announced later because of what Le Figaro describes as an influx of last-minute candidates, which has seen “En Marche” screen more than 16,000 applicants.

Les Echos says “surprise” has been the leitmotiv of Macron’s style as he fine tunes his big decisions.

According to the economic newspaper, "En Marche”s decision to slam the door on ex-Prime Minister Manuel Valls' offer to stand for parliamentary elections under the Presidential banner proves beyond any doubt that there are no pre-conceived solutions in “Macron country”.

L'Humanité reacts to failed talks between the Communists and the Jean-Luc Mélenchon's “Insoumis” or "Unbowed party to pick a unified list for the parliamentary elections. The daily warns that the much dreaded losing machine commonly associated with left-wing politics in France is once more about to show its ugly face.

The Communist daily blames the collapse of the dialogue on the reluctance of the “Unbowed” party to accept candidates from ethnic minorities and on the same “hegemonistic” and egoistic temptations that finally cost so much to the Socialist party.

L'Humanité concludes with a warning to Jean-Luc Mélenchon's strategist dreaming of a hostile takeover of the Left that a credible movement which incarnates the aspirations of the left wingers will not be reconstructed by lining people up like soldiers, warns l’Humanité.

Some French papers comment on President Donald Trump's shock dismissal of FBI Director James Comey on grounds that "he wasn't doing a good job".Comey is the man overseeing the federal investigations into suspected interference by the Kremlin in the 2016 US Presidential elections.

Le Figaro says the firing of Comey will not stop Russia's shadow from hovering over the Trump Presidency and following him wherever he goes.

According to the right-wing paper, unfortunately there is nothing Trump can do to chase away the clouds of suspicion gathering. Le Figaro says this may be one outburst of anger too much and a grave error he may live to regret.

The paper holds that the specter of his impeachment over of his other Achilles heel about conflict of interest between his office and his financial empire, now looms even further in Washington.