Curtain closes on ‘unpopular’ Sarkozy presidency

Outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy is leaving office as one of the most unpopular presidents in France’s history and with the unwelcome distinction of being only the second French head of state to fail to win re-election since World War Two.

Sarkozy, who has suggested he will quit politics when he steps down on May 15, has kept a low profile and avoided encounters with the media in the last days of his five-year mandate. The subdued finale has contrasted sharply with the boisterous presence that people have grown to expect – and to dislike.

“Sarkozy’s approval rating went through several different phases, but it was often under 30% and taken as a whole was the lowest we’ve recorded for any [French] president,” said Eric Bonnet, head of opinion surveys for the French polling firm BVA.

Read more: France24

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Hollande wins French presidency

French socialist François Hollande won France’s presidential election on Sunday, with thousands of his supporters rallying across the country to celebrate the left’s return to the Elysée Palace after almost two decades out of office.

France’s Interior Ministry said the left-wing candidate had claimed around 51.7% of the runoff vote to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy’s 48.3%, with turnout at 81%.

In a victory speech in the central town of Tulles, where he once served as mayor, Hollande said he would be a president for all French people. “We are not a France divided, we are one single France, all united in the same destiny,” he told his supporters.

Read details: France24

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France's Hollande: Tough line on Muslim customs

Jakarta Post reports:

French presidential front-runner Francois Hollande says he would not allow separate menus in public cafeterias or separate hours in swimming pools for men and women to satisfy demands of the Muslim community.

Hollande, the Socialist facing off against conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday's presidential election runoff, also said he would firmly support France's ban on the face-covering Islamic veils.

Hollande said if he is elected president, "I will apply the law" on the face veils. He said different swimming pool hours "will not be tolerated."

Sarkozy also has criticized demands for special treatment from France's large Muslim community.

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What's left in France

The first round of the French presidential election has not substantially diminished the likelihood that the Élysée Palace will have a new occupant next month, after Nicolas Sarkozy last Sunday bucked the trend whereby the incumbent initially takes the lead.

Few analysts, however, have written him off completely. The diminutive combatant may yet secure a second term — not least if the bulk of those who cast their ballots for the neo-fascist Front National’s (FN) Marine Le Pen opt for Sarkozy on May 6. That is not a given, however.

After all, Le Pen to a considerable extent based her campaign on deriding the status quo and, more specifically, Sarkozy’s role in it, so even a half-hearted endorsement would widely be seen as hypocritica

Read more: Dawn

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French presidential rivals race to seduce Le Pen voters

France's presidential rivals scrambled on Tuesday to seduce nearly a fifth of the electorate that voted for far right anti-immigration crusader Marine Le Pen, voicing sympathy for voters' distress in the economic crisis.

A cartoon in the daily Le Monde parodying Romeo and Juliette depicted Hollande and Sarkozy stabbing each other in the back while offering bouquets in French national colours and serenading Le Pen voters looking down from a balcony.

"Do you know these guys?" one hard-hatted Le Pen supporter in overalls asks.

"Never seen them before," his mate replies.

Read more: Malaysia Star

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French premier reaches out to Jews, Muslims

France's prime minister scrambled Wednesday to dispel concerns in the Jewish and Muslim communities after criticizing the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat.

Halal meat in particular has emerged as a hot-button issue in the campaign for presidential elections starting next month in France, a country with at least 5 million Muslims, the largest such population in western Europe.

Francois Fillon's call for religions to "reflect" upon what he called outdated traditions has fed a hyper-charged political atmosphere. 

But for many, Fillon's comments went too far. He hosted Jewish leaders Wednesday and was expected to meet with Muslim leaders Thursday in what appeared to be an attempt to ease concerns about his comments on French radio this week.

Read details: SFGate

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