Under-fire Hollande faces press grilling

By
AFP
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Under-fire Hollande faces press grilling
PARIS: French President Francois Hollande holds a rare and hotly awaited news conference later Thursday as the embattled and deeply unpopular leader seeks to turn the tide on a catastrophic few weeks.

A party rebellion, an emergency cabinet reshuffle, record high unemployment and record low unpopularity: Hollande has endured punch after punch in the past month or so.But perhaps the most painful blow was the revelations of a woman scorned, as his former partner Valerie Trierweiler painted him as a cold and power-crazed leader who secretly hates the poor in a best-selling kiss-and-tell.

However, Hollande does have some good news to cling onto after his government won a crucial vote of confidence in the parliament on Tuesday -- albeit narrowly and with more rebel MPs than he would have liked.

Manuel Valls, the previously popular prime minister who has been dragged down in Hollande´s wake, described the vote as a "turning point" and the news conference is the next stage of that process.

Hollande will make a brief statement at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) before taking reporters´ questions in a session that could last hours.

The subjects are likely to range from France´s engagement in Iraq to the dire state of the economy to the president´s love life -- although he is unlikely to offer further enlightenment on this last topic.

Political analysts however were sceptical that Hollande could turn the corner.

"In the short term, I do not see what could make him rebound," said Frederic Dabi from the polling company Ifop, as Hollande stagnates at a record low of 13 percent in the opinion polls.

"The dreadful sequence of events he has suffered show that it´s not a problem of political skill, economic skill but also personal skills. There is a doubt about the person himself. It´s difficult to rectify that," added Pascal Perrineau from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris.