The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Hollande takes up reins
France: Rain fails to dampen enthusiasm as inauguration
Francois Hollande took over as France’s first Socialist president since 1995 yesterday, running a country worried about Europe’s future and pledging to make it a fairer place.
The 57-year-old rode to the presidency on awave of resurgent leftist sentiment amid Europe’s debt woes and protests against capitalism around the world.
Afteraceremony steeped in tradition, Mr Hollande displayed his populist touch with a rain-soaked ride up the Champs-elysees avenue, standing tall in his vehicle’s sunroof to wave to crowds lining the streets before getting out for handshakes with adoring crowds.
Mr Hollande then left within hours on his first diplomatic foray to Berlin. He also named a moderate member of his Socialist party, Jean-marc Ayrault, as his prime minister.
Mr Hollande is only the second Socialist president of modern France, after Francois Mitterrand’s 19811995 tenure.
The president immediately acknowledged the challenges he inherits: “A massive debt, weakgrowth, high unemployment, degraded competitiveness, and a Europe struggling to come out of crisis”.
With the economy in the doldrums and joblessness high, the French mood is glum and many voters were looking to the inauguration as a rare moment of national pride, and to Mr Hollande’s presidency as a new opportunity to make things better.
Worldmarketsandother European leaders will be watching closely to see whether and how Mr Hollande follows through on his campaign promises,
“A Europe struggling to come out of crisis”
such as pulling French troops out of Afghanistan, freezing petrol prices and raising taxes on the rich.
After the Berlin visit, Mr Hollande heads to the United States to meet President Barack Obama and attend summits of the Group of Eight and Nato.
His former partner and the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, joined him later.
There was drama later when the president’s plane was struck by lightning on his way to Berlin.
No one was hurt and the plane returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution.