SINCE France’s fifth republic began in 1958, no president in good health has ever failed to stand for re-election. Yet last night that is what François Hollande decided to do. “I have served the country with sincerity,” the Socialist president declared, in an unexpected television broadcast. But with unemployment high and the left at risk of fragmentation, he said, he would not run again in next spring’s presidential election. Mr Hollande’s decision underlines the chronic weakness of the French left and opens up its leadership to a new generation.
Mr Hollande’s retirement was not as obvious a decision as it might appear. Although his approval ratings had dropped to levels beyond parody—4% in one poll—he has always had uncommon confidence in his capacity to vanquish conventional wisdom. Until recently, even those around him thought he might run again. After a testy lunch this week with Manuel Valls, his centre-left prime minister (who had begun to defy his boss), Mr Hollande appeared to put his junior in his place.
In the end, though, common sense prevailed. Confidence and trust in Mr Hollande have collapsed. The left is dismayed by his failure to...Continue reading
Souce: Europe http://ift.tt/2gPt7nz
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