FRANCE-SHOOTING/HOLLANDE POPULARITY Hollande's popularity up 21 points after France shootings
Record ID:
324690
FRANCE-SHOOTING/HOLLANDE POPULARITY Hollande's popularity up 21 points after France shootings
- Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/HOLLANDE POPULARITY Hollande's popularity up 21 points after France shootings
- Date: 19th January 2015
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (RECENT - JANUARY 11, 2015) (REUTERS) CROWDS GATHERED FOR SOLIDARITY MARCH WHICH SAW OVER A MILLION PEOPLE IN STREETS OF PARIS
- Embargoed: 3rd February 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA85CH7H9OBC6B84XYMT3RYXMKX
- Story Text: French President Francois Hollande benefited from a dramatic surge in his approval ratings thanks to his handling of France's recent Islamist attacks, an opinion poll showed on Monday (January 19).
The president, who has languished on record low scores for a postwar French president, leapt 21 percentage points to 40 percent approval in the latest poll when compared with its previous survey, carried out in December.
Seventeen people were killed by three gunmen in a series of attacks that began at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, prompting a national outpouring of grief that saw over a million people protest in the streets of Paris on January 11.
In a televised address to the nation on January 9 -- the day security services put an end to two sieges carried out by the gunmen -- Hollande repeatedly called for national unity in the face of the violence.
Assistant director general at the IFOP polling institute, Frederic Dabi, said the results showed many of the French thought he had been "up to the job".
"For the French, Francois Hollande has been up to the job, he coped with the events, he's overcome the criticisms he's normally the target of -- his lack of authority, of firmness, of leadership -- for many French people he wore the mantle of a president and he is reaping the benefits," Dabi told Reuters TV.
World leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marched arm-in-arm with Hollande through the streets of Paris on January 11, joined too by families, friends and colleagues of the victims.
The shock of the attacks has pushed the woes of France's economy to the back of voters' minds, Dabi said, with the Socialist's image boosted notably among his core supporters on the left as another poll for Journal Du Dimanche published on Sunday shows.
"Yesterday's IFOP-Journal Du Dimanche poll showed that regarding the solutions there was a consensus between the supporters of the left and the supporters of the right. As long as this unanimity remains, as long as the economy is relegated to the back seat, Francois Hollande will continue to reap the benefits of his good management of the tragic events which took place in France," he said.
On the streets of Paris, the consensus was that the ordeal had allowed the president to demonstrate his human qualities, at a troubling time for the country.
"I think he's a president with human qualities. There was something to be done, there was real emotion everywhere in the French population, and also all over the world, and he dealt with things well during the Charlie Hebdo affair," Max Obled said.
"He had the right reaction at the right time, but now let's see about the rest," Rudolf Mizzi said.
Pollsters caution that the ratings remain volatile, and that they did not mean the end of the Socialist party's battle with a series of electoral drubbings.
Dabi noted the last time a French president's ratings took off so dramatically was for Francois Mitterrand during the 1990-1991 Gulf war -- a gain he was to lose again months later. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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