Mr Nice Guy? Hardly.
I think the greatest possible indictment of Francois Hollande’s character is his pronouncement today that he has ended his relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
“I wish to make it known that I have ended my partnership with Valerie Trierweiler,” he told Agence France Presse (AFP), the state news agency.
What gentleman – scratch that, what decent man – would have said a thing like that? The end of their relationship should have been announced jointly, and if Ms Trierweiler refused to participate in a joint announcement, the president of France should still have made it a point to say that he and she have ended their it.
He should have said this even if it was he who took the decision, to leave her with some dignity and self-respect after the humiliation she has suffered already.
Whether you think she deserves it or not (and I happen to think she does, because she was the agent of her predecessor’s suffering and public humiliation), it reflects far more badly on him than it does on her.
It makes him look cheap, tacky and ill-bred – a right and proper AH.
Oh, and I’m quite sure it was the other woman who leaked the story to the press, indirectly so that her paramour won’t get wind of it and despise her for it, so as to bring matters to a head perhaps after giving him a failed ultimatum.
None of the individuals in this sorry tale seems to be anything other than an egocentric schemer and cheat, so we can say that they all deserve each other.
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‘egocentric schemer’.Could apply to more than ‘Les Francais.’ Closer to home, maybe?
I read the original text on le JDD website as circulated by AFP.
It is absolutely appalling.
It is small wonder that the country is in freefall on most fronts.
If this is the sort of executive head of state the French deserve then let them enjoy him.
The country is ruined.
Does he still support Joseph Muscat, or has he ended that relationship too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wf5MBuZ2Go
Does everyone in Malta still support him? That’s the real question. It’s easy to get all your views from The Economist but then don’t complain when they turn out to be rubbish.
Did you expect any better from a Socialist, Daphne?
Hollande is a product of the so called progressive mentality of today that puts self-gratification as the basic guiding moral principle. He defies public opinion, feels disgusted at the encroachment on his private life, ignoring the fact that he did not hesitate to make it public as long as it fed his self-gratification.
Yet, he was democratically elected to lead France, and that speaks volumes of the fickleness of the electorate. Malta is in “good” company.
Hollande’s standing in the French public opinion has slipped to unprecedented levels for a French president, yet he stubbornly persists to follow his old ways. Was he an inspiration for Joseph Muscat?