Facing a deficit of support even among its own lawmakers, the government forced through the bill through parliament without a debate or a vote. For the second time in his short career as a Socialist MP, Bachelay defied his own party leadership over the contested El Khomri law, joining fellow lawmakers who vowed to vote against the measure and oppose the undemocratic manoeuvre that bypassed parliament.
The standoff between PM Valls and the frondeurs over the labour reform intensified, with the mutinous Socialist lawmakers going as far as to orchestrate a no confidence vote against the premier. In the seaside city of Nice, a man drove a truck through a crowd gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks, killing 86 people and wounding around others. Nearing the midway point of his mandate, Hollande told an interviewer he would forego a re-election bid if his government failed to turn a corner on massive unemployment.
The jobless rate stood just above 10 percent at the time. From that point on the suspense around his conditional candidacy grew, like a rising, collective itch the president refused to scratch. Finally, in December , he solemnly announced he would not run for a second term, another first for a modern French president. He would step aside not because of the jobs situation, which he argued was improving, but because his candidacy had created too many divisions within the political left.
His job approval rating tanked to a historic low of 11 percent. Whatever the cause, the Hollande era now had an expiration date. Rather, it was a chronic failure to connect with ordinary people that condemned his presidency. They could never figure out who the real Hollande was. His advisors implored him to change, to show some emotion, to get angry, to express some feeling, but he refused. Raffy believes over the past six decades French people have come to expect a sense of familiarity from their president.
It was a closeness Hollande denied voters, time and time again. Hollande leaves behind a country fearful of the next terrorist attack, sceptical it can achieve meaningful economic growth anytime soon. Daily newsletter Receive essential international news every morning. Hollande came out on top at 73 percent. Sarkozy and Le Pen were not far behind, at 66 and 63 percent, respectively. The expectation is that Hollande, if he did run, would not. But if he is up against Sarkozy in the first round and if Francois Bayrou, leader of the centrist Democratic Movement, joins the fray, he perhaps has a glimmer of hope.
But the antipathy towards both Hollande and Sarkozy makes it difficult to completely rule out a Le Pen victory. Regardless of who emerges victorious, the choice between three deeply unpopular candidates could deepen the sense of alienation in France, fuelling a despondency akin to what Houellebecq describes in his book. France is not the only country whose voters face poor choices. The U. David Lees does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The president seemed to acknowledge his poor chances of success in the presidential election when revealing his decision. Elected on a platform of change in , Hollande was perceived as a more normal candidate after the excesses of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy.
But he failed to live up to expectations — so spectacularly, in fact, that he famously became the least popular president of the fifth republic. Despite his successful same-sex marriage bill, Hollande faced major opposition to his proposed economic and employment reforms.
He failed to either put more money into the pockets of French voters or deliver meaningful socialist changes to society. However, in reality, the socialist government has become increasingly pro-business.
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