French President Francois Hollande Says He Won’t Seek Re-Election

In a surprise announcement, French President François Hollande said Thursday that he would not run for re-election, leaving the leftist field wide open ahead of next year’s vote in which the far right is expected to poll strongly. In the address, Hollande said he was “aware of the risks” that his candidacy would not be able to rally much of the public behind it, and had consequently made a decision to drop out.

“I have for over four and a half years served the country with sincerity and honesty”, a black-suited, stony-faced Hollande said as he detailed the reforms he has achieved since his election in May 2012.

For starters, Hollande has low single-digit approval ratings. The French loved Hollande nearly as much as ketchup and so he has decided not to attempt to win an unnwinable race that would only drag his fellow Socialists down with him.

“Today, I am conscious of the risks that such a move would have if it doesn’t get widespread support”.

The announcement on Thursday – issued by the Elysee Palace, the seat of the presidency – was greeted across the political spectrum as a courageous and dignified decision that, as Mr Hollande himself made clear, was meant to place the country’s interests above his own.

Pundits attribute his decision to pathetic approval ratings and a strategic choice to avoid split among the leftists. Among the two candidates now topping the 2017 polls, one is Marine Le Pen, head of the anti-immigration Euroskeptic National Front party.

One recent poll by Odoxa put him at only 7.5% in the first round of the presidential race, behind the right’s Fillon, the far-right Marine Le Pen, his former economy minister and maverick independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, and the hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon.

First former president Nicolas Sarkozy was knocked out of the conservatives’ primary, and then runaway favourite Alain Juppe was beaten to the party’s nomination by Fillon.

But more damaging revelations were to come, in a book of interviews with two journalists from Le Monde newspaper titled “A President Shouldn’t Say That” that alienated some of the Socialist top brass.

The Socialist party has been deeply divided over Mr Hollande’s policies, with rebels within the party openly criticising his pro-business strategy and calling for more left-leaning policies.

Now, with Mr Hollande out, the Socialists are thought to have improved their chances, even if only slightly.

Pundits maintain that Hollande lacks the kind of toughness that Valls shows, and such personality trait could help the premier compete in the general election next spring.

Valls, who is married to a Jewish woman, is the first French prime minister who publicly denounced anti-Semitism as a form of or portal to anti-Semitism.

Hollande also warned of the threat of the National Front.