François Hollande has pledged not to introduce any more taxes for the rest of his five-year presidency and not to run for re-election if he fails to reduce unemployment by the end of his five-year term, reports The Telegraph.
Precisely halfway through his presidency, France’s most unpopular leader in history made the pledges in a 90-minute television special broadcast in which four citizens and three presenters grilled him on his much-maligned record.
Commentators dubbed the rare TV interview a “last ditch” attempt to convince France his presidency is not already over two and a half years before it officially concludes.
With unemployment stuck at an all-time high and the European Commission darkly predicting France will soon have the highest budget deficit in the eurozone, the vast majority – more than eight out of 10, according to one poll – say they do not want Mr Hollande to run in the next election in 2017.
His approval rating is now at a historic low of 12 per cent and a massive 97 per cent believe he has dismally failed to kick start the economy.
Mr Hollande made it clear that after two and a half years of painful tax hikes, there would be no more.
"Starting in 2015, there will be no new taxes on anyone," he insisted.
Admitting that he had made a “mistake” to predict that unemployment would fall by the end of 2013, he confirmed he would not stand for re-election if it failed to fall before the end of his mandate.
“If I don’t manage it by the end of my term, do you really think I will go back to the French (in 2017)?,” he asked. “The French would be merciless with me and they would be right.”
He also took a swipe at Britain, saying: “Unemployment may be lower in Britain but you have contracts that last one or two days, a lot of social precariousness, so I am not for this model.”
But Mr Hollande had a tough time convincing a female boss of a family business who told the president that if she moved her company to Britain, she would save three million euros per year in charges and taxes.