Hollande to face the press

PRESIDENT Hollande faces the press today to “teach” the public about the reasons for polices such as putting up VAT.

At 17.00 he is to hold the first official press conference of his five-year term, beginning with a half-hour speech, followed by a two-hour question session with around 350 journalists.

The event follows a previous promise that he would hold press conferences every six months.

News magazine Le Point reported Hollande as having told journalists the occasion will be a “solemn but appropriate moment” to review his first six months and that “I need to do some teaching, that’s why I’m coming to see you.”

Hollande faces a challenging audience as his popularity is on the decline, especially following the announcement of plans to hike VAT having previously criticised Sarkozy’s own “social VAT” policy.

The first verdicts on his performance will be during the evening’s current affairs shows, such as the 20.00 TF1 news.

Photo: Matthieu Riegler