Jonathan congratulates new French president, Francois Hollande

Jonathan congratulates Hollande

FRENCH President-elect, Francois Hollande, is to start work on forming a new government, after telling supporters his victory gave hope of an end to austerity.

Mr Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in eurozone member-countries to focus on promoting growth.
The Socialist leader won just under 52% of votes in Sunday’s run-off election.

Centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is the first French president since 1981 not to win a second term. He will hand power to Mr Hollande on May 15, following talks between the two camps, the presidency has said.
Invitation to Berlin

Hollande must act quickly to reassure other eurozone countries he is up to the considerable challenge he faces, the BBC reports from Paris. Hollande has called for a renegotiation of a hard-won European treaty on budget discipline championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mr Sarkozy.

Mrs Merkel congratulated the president-elect by phone and invited him to Berlin to hold talks soon. Hollande’s campaign director, Pierre Moscovici, told AFP news agency that the two had agreed to work together on “a strong Franco-German relationship in the interest of Europe”.

But on Monday morning, the German government ruled out reworking the European Union’s fiscal pact, saying it was “not possible” to renegotiate it. UK Prime Minister David Cameron also called Mr Hollande to congratulate him.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Monday congratulated Mr Francois Hollande, the President-elect of France, on his victory in Sunday’s run-off presidential election.

In a statement issued by Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Jonathan saluted the people of France on the success of the election.

He described the election as not only a triumph of democracy, but also a clear testimony to the maturity and age-long tradition of democracy in France.

The President said he looked forward to working with Hollande and his incoming government, to further strengthen the cordial and mutually-beneficial relations between Nigeria and France.

He said he expected that under Hollande’s leadership, France would remain a strong supporter of global action to promote democracy, good governance and rapid socio-economic development in Africa.

Jonathan assured Hollande that Nigeria would continue to work with France in the quest for peace, political stability and prosperity in the ECOWAS, Africa and other under-developed nations of the world.

He wished Hollande “a very successful tenure in the service of the people of France’’. Hollande feeds a renewed sense of hope in the country – particularly among the young – that amid the austerity, there can be jobs and salaries, our correspondent adds. Mr Hollande offers a fresh start – but the debt problems for France are still the same.

Hollande – the first Socialist to win the French presidency since Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s – earlier gave his victory speech in his stronghold of Tulle in central France.

He said he would push ahead with his pledge to refocus EU fiscal efforts from austerity to “growth”.

“Europe is watching us, austerity can no longer be the only option,” he said.

After his speech in Tulle, Hollande headed to Brive airport to fly to Paris to address supporters at the Place de la Bastille.

“I am the president of the youth of France,” he told the assembled crowd of tens of thousands of supporters.

“You are a movement that is rising up throughout Europe,” he said.

Hollande capitalised on France’s economic woes and President Sarkozy’s unpopularity.The Socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year.He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

In his concession speech, Sarkozy told supporters: “Francois Hollande is the president of France and he must be respected.”
The outgoing president said he was “taking responsibility for defeat”.
Hinting about his future, he said: “My place will no longer be the same. My involvement in the life of my country will now be different.”

During the campaign, he had said he would leave politics if he lost the election.Admitting defeat soon after polls closed on Sunday evening, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy wished “good luck” to Mr Hollande.

Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, had promised to reduce France’s large budget deficit through spending cuts.

He becomes the latest European leader to be voted out of office amid widespread voter anger at austerity measures triggered by the eurozone debt crisis.
Hollande is expected to be inaugurated later this month. A parliamentary election is due in June.

-Guardian

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