Hollande Suffers Crushing Losses, Appoints Valls New PM

Local Editor

The French president, François Hollande, was under intense pressure on Monday to shake up his government and "show he is not deaf" after voters inflicted crushing losses on his Socialist party in local elections.

On what was nicknamed "Black Sunday", France's left was given a drubbing in the polls and lost more than 150 major towns, mostly to the opposition right.

There were also significant and historic gains for the Front National, which took control in at least 11 municipalities, and gained about 1,200 seats on local councils. However, the party failed to take the cities of Avignon and Perpignan where its candidates had led in last week's first round vote, or the town of Forbach, where the party's number two was running for mayor.

The success of the charismatic and media-savvy Marine Le Pen's far right FN has given the party a boost in the run-up to the European elections in May, where it hopes to repeat its success.
Local elections are often a means for the public to show its dissatisfaction with the party in power, so Hollande, whose popularity is at an all-time low, and the Socialists had expected an electoral rout after a dismal showing in the first round. But the scale of Sunday's debacle came as a devastating blow.

"The Punishment," shouted the headline in the left-leaning Libération over a picture of Hollande.

"The blue tsunami breaks over Hollande," said the center-right Le Figaro.

The only moment of relief for Hollande came when it was confirmed that the Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo had won in Paris, making her the capital's first female mayor. She will succeed the popular Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoê, her mentor, who has run the city since 2001.

"It has been a black Sunday," said Socialist MP Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, the Socialist party's (PS) deputy leader. "It's a reminder from those in France who earn and live on very little."

In response, Hollande named Interior Minister Manuel Valls as France's next prime minister.
Hollande said Valls would head a "fighting government".

The ruling Socialists have been badly bruised in local elections which saw big gains for conservatives and the far-right National Front.

Valls, 51, has replaced PM Jean-Marc Ayrault, whose office confirmed his resignation on Monday.

In a short televised address on Monday, Hollande said France had to put right its public finances, acknowledging it was time for change.
He proposed a reduction in taxes and worker contributions to spur job creation. "We are in this for the long haul," he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team