PARIS, April 1 (AFP): France's new Prime Minister Manuel Valls faced a delicate balancing act Tuesday as he set about forming a new government tasked with reviving the economy and reining in public finances.
President Francois Hollande nominated the tough-talking interior minister to the post on Monday after the ruling Socialists suffered a drubbing at municipal polls, replacing incumbent Jean-Marc Ayrault who had headed up a deeply unpopular government.
Valls's firm stance on crime and his dynamism have won him respect from voters across the political spectrum, but the nomination of the 51-year-old-considered on the right of the Socialist Party-has antagonised some ministers who have preemptively refused to take part in his new government.
Valls is arriving at a time of "very complicated economic conditions", said Frederic Dabi of the IFOP polling institute.
Valls faces the challenge of "an economic context that has deteriorated sharply", he added, with unemployment and a public deficit that remain stubbornly high after nearly two years of Socialist rule.
Growth, meanwhile, is almost non-existent and the exasperation of the French was reflected in Sunday's municipal polls that saw the Socialists lose a mammoth 155 towns and cities to the main opposition and far right.
In a televised address on Monday, Hollande charged Valls with implementing a package of pro-business policies known as the Responsibility Pact, which cuts taxes on firms that are widely viewed as hampering employment and growth, and imposes spending cuts of 50 billion euros ($69 billion).
New French PM forms government as mammoth challenges await
FE Team | Published: April 02, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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