Hollande facing domestic strife

The French Socialists led by François Hollande obtained an absolute majority in Sunday's parliamentary election. But the president still won't have an easy time getting his own way in domestic policy, the liberal business paper Handelsblatt comments: "In the coming months Hollande will have to deal with groups that have already eliminated other politicians: hundreds of thousands of civil servants and public sector employees who represent France's best organised workers and a force well versed in political destruction. He will only be able to balance the national budget if he emerges victorious from the confrontation with this force. But he can only reduce new debt if in addition to calling the shots on the central government budget he can also intervene in the finances of the regions, which have vigorously created new jobs in recent years while the central government was axing them. … He is still postponing the day when he will cease to be Europe's beneficiary, enthusing about an alternative path without major sacrifices, and turn into an energetic reformer in his own country. But he has to do this soon or he will fail entirely."

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