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In-Depth Information
On the far right was the National Front party (FN), led by Marine Le Pen, daughter
of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. The FN campaigned on a “France for the French”
platform, calling for expulsion of ethnic minorities, restoration of the French franc as the
standard currency, secession from the EU, and broader police powers. Ms. Le Pen studi-
ously avoided the kind of anti-Semitic, racist rants that have made her father notorious in
France.
After several months and one TV debate (yes, the French election season is that
short), François Hollande and the Socialists emerged victorious. And just one month after
the presidential election, French voters returned to the polls to select all 577 seats of the
Assemblée Nationale. Though it's almost unheard of for a single party to win an outright
majorityofseats,that'sexactlywhattheSocialistsdid,ekingoutjustover50percent.Oth-
er leftist parties also scored well, giving President Hollande a leftist mandate for change.
Nevertheless,Hollandehastoworkcloselywithlegislators,astrongminorityofwhomare
from opposing parties.
FrançoisHollandeispoliticallymoderateandpersonallymodest,evenboring.Raised
inasuburbanParisianmiddle-classhome,herosequietlythroughtheranks:assemblyman
from a nondescript
département
, small-town mayor, secretary of the Socialist Party. He's
never before held a major elected office. Though Hollande is a “Socialist” (a word that
spooks Rush Limbaugh), he's in the mainstream of the European political spectrum.
France's “Première Dame” is Valerie Trierweiler, a well-known journalist who writes for
the glossy magazine
Paris Match
(the French counterpart to
Time
). Trierweiler is the first
unwed first lady to occupy the Elysée Palace (French White House).
Oh-là-là
—imagine
that in the States.
Hollande faceshugechallenges. Onthesluggisheconomy,hefavorsgovernment ex-
pansionandstimulusratherthanausterity:hiringthousandsofteachers,buildinghundreds
ofthousandsofhomes,andtaxingallincome aboveamillion eurosat75percent. Abroad,
he's run into trouble working with Germany to shore up weaker members of the eurozone.
Andhe'shad toabandon his promise toreturn the retirement age—at least forsome work-
ers—to 60.
Francemustalsoaddressimmigration, whichisshiftingthecountry'sethnic andcul-
tural makeup. Ten percent of France's population is of North African descent, mainly im-
migrants from former colonies. The increased number of Muslims raises more questions,
particularlyintighteconomictimes.TheFrenchhave(quitecontroversially)madeitilleg-
al for women to wear a full, face-covering veil
(niq
ā
b)
in public. They continue to debate
whether banning the veil enforces democracy—or squelches diversity.
Finally, Hollande must deal with high-profile members of his own turbulent party. In
the run-up to the 2012 election, the front-runner was former International Monetary Fund
chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He was forced to drop out after being accused of sexually
