French hope for change as ‘Mr. Normal’ defeats ‘President of the Rich’
François Hollande has won the presidency of France, turning the tide on a rightwards and xenophobic lurch in European politics and vowing to transform Europe’s handling of the economic crisis by fighting back against German-led austerity measures. - The 57-year-old rural MP and self-styled Mr Normal, a moderate social democrat from the centre of the Socialist party, is France’s first leftwing president for 17 years. Projections from early counts, released by French television, put him on 51.9% and Nicolas Sarkozy on 48.1%. His emphatic victory is a boost to the left in a continent that has gradually swung right since the economic crisis broke four years ago. He said his mission was to go to European leaders to demand measures for “growth, jobs and prosperity”. Hollande’s first move as president will be to push Germany to renegotiate Europe’s budget discipline pact to include a clause on growth. Hollande said France had voted for “change”, but he had a “heavy” responsibility to drag the country out of economic crisis. Vowing that France would no longer be fractured, divided or riven by discrimination, or those in the poor high-rise suburbs and abandoned rural areas cast aside, he said: “No child of the republic will be abandoned.”
BBC: Socialist Francois Hollande wins French presidency
20Minutes.fr: Les Français ont voté François Hollande d'abord pour faire partir Nicolas Sarkozy
Les Echos: Pourquoi Nicolas Sarkozy a perdu l'élection présidentielle: Nicolas Sarkozy a permis au pays de passer au bord du gouffre, voilà son bilan
Presse Europe/Financial Times: Who said anything about a revolution?
Reuters: Le Pen appeals to disenchanted Sarkozy party members
Le Monde: Marine Le Pen veut incarner "la véritable opposition"
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