Back to Reality for Hollande as Voters Flock to Le Pen Message
After three weeks spent decrying terrorists and occupying the world stage, French President Francois Hollande faces an abrupt return to domestic reality this weekend in the form of surging support for the far-right National Front that could give his party an electoral defeat.
Voters head to the polls for the first round of regional elections Sunday. By the time results of the second round are in on Dec. 13, the anti-immigrant, anti-euro National Front may well win power in two or three of 12 regional assemblies for the first time and trounce Hollande’s Socialists in the popular vote, polls show.
Though his handling of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks on Paris has brought Hollande respite in terms of personal popularity, the performance hasn’t washed away discontent about an economy that has barely grown in three years and joblessness near a record high.
“There is no reason to think that temporary, personal popularity will translate into votes for Hollande or the Socialist government,” said Frederic Sawicki, a professor of politics at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. “It will be a brutal wake up call.”
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