The French Are Sick of Their Socialist President

A poll released Thursday showed that a strong majority of French citizens want their socialist President Francois Hollande to resign.

The poll conducted by Le Figaro magazine found that 62 percent of respondents think it’s time for Hollande to go. Reuters reports that even a quarter of France’s socialists support Hollande’s ouster.

Hollande was elected on a platform of rolling back cuts to welfare programs made by the previous government and raising taxes. Since then his favorability has sunk to a mere 13 percent approval, the lowest level for any French President since World War II.

Last New Year’s Eve, Hollande conceded that taxes on business were too
high and were preventing France from growing its economy. He announced a plan to relaunch his Presidency, kick start the economy and create more jobs. So far that plan hasn’t worked.

In July France’s unemployment rate went up for the 9th consecutive month setting a new record high. Growth in France has been stuck at zero percent for the past two quarters and has averaged zero percent in previous years.

In addition to his economic woes, Hollande lost some of his appeal when he cheated on his longtime partner Valerie Trierweiler with actress Julie Gayet. Trierweiler has recently released a tell-all book about her life with Hollande which, among other things, accuses him of ridiculing the poor as “toothless.”