Monday marks one year since François Hollande became the 24th president of France, and the country’s first Socialist leader in 17 years, reports France 24.
The rotund liberal was swept into power, albeit by a narrow margin, on a wave of discontent. After five years of tough-talking conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, voters elected softly-spoken Hollande in the hope that his less austere policies would ease them out of the financial crisis.
But one year on, the economy is nearing recession, unemployment levels are ever worse, and the government is reeling from a shaming tax evasion scandal. Hollande’s campaign slogan ahead of the election was “Change Is Now,” but today, many in France are left feeling bitterly disappointed.
Dubbed “Mr Normal” during the election last year, Hollande is today better known as “Mr Unpopular,” with an approval rating of just 24% according to an IFOP poll in late April. On Sunday, tens of thousands of union members and leftwing activists marked the president’s first year in office by marching through Paris to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with his record so far.
Workers’ unions and far-left political groups accuse the president of failing to protect jobs and prevent the closure of industrial units and businesses. With 3.2 million people now looking for work, the unemployment rate is higher than it was in 1997, when the previous record was set.
Despite the creation of the awkwardly named “Ministry of Industrial Renewal”, French industry has been particularly hard hit over the past year, with the closure of symbolic steel and car factories – which Hollande specifically promised would remain open during his election campaign – highlighting the situation.
Read more of this report from France 24.