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| Hollande’s Re-election Bid Could Hinge on Effort to Ease Unemployment | Hollande’s Re-election Bid Could Hinge on Effort to Ease Unemployment |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President François Hollande of France, facing dismal approval ratings at the midpoint of his five-year term, has strongly hinted in a television interview that he would not seek a second term if he could not reduce the nation’s stubbornly high unemployment rate. | |
| In a bold effort to reassert his relevance, the French leader went on prime-time television on Thursday night for a rare 90-minute interview during which he faced questions about tax increases and public spending cuts intended as overhauls. The measures have been broadly unpopular among virtually all sectors of the electorate. | In a bold effort to reassert his relevance, the French leader went on prime-time television on Thursday night for a rare 90-minute interview during which he faced questions about tax increases and public spending cuts intended as overhauls. The measures have been broadly unpopular among virtually all sectors of the electorate. |
| Referring to his promise to reduce unemployment, which has crept inexorably above 10 percent as growth has faltered, Mr. Hollande said, “I talked about reversing the trend in unemployment; it didn’t happen.” | Referring to his promise to reduce unemployment, which has crept inexorably above 10 percent as growth has faltered, Mr. Hollande said, “I talked about reversing the trend in unemployment; it didn’t happen.” |
| “I was criticized for this,” he continued, “because it was a high hope for many, especially those seeking work.” | “I was criticized for this,” he continued, “because it was a high hope for many, especially those seeking work.” |
| He added: “If I don’t succeed by the end of my term, do you think I will present myself to the French people in 2017? The French would be unforgiving and rightly so.” | He added: “If I don’t succeed by the end of my term, do you think I will present myself to the French people in 2017? The French would be unforgiving and rightly so.” |
| In the interview, Mr. Hollande also pledged not to raise individual taxes in an effort to address the nation’s persistent budget deficits. | In the interview, Mr. Hollande also pledged not to raise individual taxes in an effort to address the nation’s persistent budget deficits. |
| “Starting next year, there will be no additional taxes on anybody whatsoever,” Mr. Hollande said. The business newspaper Les Echos reported this week that the Hollande administration planned to impose a special tax on second homes in densely populated areas next year. | “Starting next year, there will be no additional taxes on anybody whatsoever,” Mr. Hollande said. The business newspaper Les Echos reported this week that the Hollande administration planned to impose a special tax on second homes in densely populated areas next year. |
| Troubled by critics and rebels in his Socialist Party, while facing a determined challenge from the far-right National Front, Mr. Hollande said he had been “hanging on.” | Troubled by critics and rebels in his Socialist Party, while facing a determined challenge from the far-right National Front, Mr. Hollande said he had been “hanging on.” |
| But, he said, he would go “to the end” to make France “stronger in the two and a half years I have left.” | But, he said, he would go “to the end” to make France “stronger in the two and a half years I have left.” |
| The latest opinion surveys suggest that nearly all French voters believe he has failed to turn around the economy, and four-fifths of them do not want him to run for a second term. | The latest opinion surveys suggest that nearly all French voters believe he has failed to turn around the economy, and four-fifths of them do not want him to run for a second term. |
| “I have got a thick skin,” he said. “For two and a half years, I have been hanging on.” | “I have got a thick skin,” he said. “For two and a half years, I have been hanging on.” |
| “I have made mistakes,” he added. “Who hasn’t?” | “I have made mistakes,” he added. “Who hasn’t?” |