Paris – French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that he will not stand for a second term in next year’s election, amid the lowest approval ratings of any president in modern French history.
In a television address, the president said he reached his decision taking into account the need to unify the country. He decried the splintering of the left in the face of challenges from conservative and far-right parties.
“I am aware of the risks posed by an action, of mine, that would not broadly mobilize [support] around it,” Hollande said, adding it was the fate of the country, and not one man, at stake. “I do not want France to be exposed to costly feats that would be dangerous to its unity.”
Hollande has registered dismal popularity ratings in recent months, receiving approval ratings of 4 per cent in an October survey.
His Socialist party is also in disarray after a number of unpopular policy proposals that have splintered the base, including labour reforms and an attempt to permanently toughen anti-terrorism laws.
During the 10-minute address, Hollande defended his legacy and achievements, saying that he had led the country during particularly trying times. He cited terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice and strains on the European Union over the Greek financial crisis.
He also underscored successes, including the historic climate agreement that was reached in Paris last year due, by many accounts, to the deft diplomacy of the French hosts.
“Since May 2012, which is to say, the date I became president, I have acted with the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls, to set France on the right path and make it more just,” Hollande said.
In primaries last week, right-leaning party Les Republicains chose Francois Fillon, a social conservative touting a platform of economic liberalization, to represent them at the polls.
The far-right National Front party and its leader Marine Le Pen have also been climbing opinion polls.
Fillon responded to the announcement in a tweet: “Tonight the president of the Republic admits with lucidity that his patent failure prevents him from going further.”
“This term ends in a political mess and the decline of power,” he added.
Analysts have cited economic worries for the candidacy of Fillon in the midst of widespread dissatisfaction over France’s persistently sluggish economy – a challenge Hollande had promised to tackle during his campaign for the Elysee.
“The major commitment I made was to bring down unemployment. I have committed, along with my government, all of my energy to this,” Hollande said during the address, pointing to pro-business policies that caused strikes from labour unions.
“The results are arriving. Later than I said they would, I know. But they are there,” he added.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged errors of his own term, saying he regretted his support for stripping convicted terrorists of their French nationality. The proposal, he said, had sown division instead of cultivating unity.
-dpa
