Weekly brief

With 51.62 percent of votes in France’s runoff election against incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande was elected on Sunday, May 6, becoming the nation’s first Socialist president since François Mitterand left office in 1995, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Libération and le Point reported. Hollande, known for his persona of normalcy, benefitted considerably from the lack of popularity of incumbent Sarkozy and a general discontent with the policies he pursued. A poll taken the day of the elections showed that 52 percent of those who voted for Hollande defined their ballot as a vote against Sarkozy, according to 20 Minutes and the Washington Post. As Hollande’s victory embodied a lack of support for Sarkozy’s domestic policy, CNN and the LA Times explored how Hollande’s election could change France’s relationship with the outside world, as Sarkozy had worked closely with Germany to address the European debt crisis and worked to boost the nation’s military stature through more assertive policy in the Middle East and greater involvement in NATO.

Heading to work on Monday, May 7, President-elect François Hollande announced that he would name his Prime Minister on May 15, the day he is set to assume his role as president of France. Speculation has focused on three potential selections, notably President of the National Assembly Socialist Group Jean-Marc Ayrault, the AP, TF1 and les Echos reported. Hollande said he plans to waste no time in naming his cabinet, and he has already set an appointment with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the day after his inauguration on May 16, to be followed by a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama before the G8 summit at Camp David, the NATO summit in Chicago, the G20 Summit, and the European Summit all scheduled for the first six weeks of his presidency. The first challenge for Hollande comes as the world considers his forthcoming relationship with Merkel, who has already expressed on Monday, May 7, a refusal to re-examine the austerity pact signed by 25 of 27 European Union members, according to the Telegraph and le Figaro.

A day after becoming the first incumbent French president to lose his re-election campaign since Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1981, President Nicolas Sarkozy gathered his electoral committee at the Elysée Palace on Monday, May 7, for an hour long meeting at which Sarkozy announced that he was leaving political life, the AP and le Figaro reported. In addition to voicing a desire to return to a normal life out of the spotlight, Sarkozy said he would not run for election in June’s legislative elections, according to France 24.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) confirmed in a statement dated Thursday, May 3, that they were holding French journalist Romeo Langlois, who went missing during an attack by FARC rebels on Colombian armed forces being accompanied by Langlois on April 28, CBS reported. As a condition for Langlois’ release, the FARC statement demanded that an international debate be opened on “the freedom to inform,” expressing doubt about the impartiality of journalists who travel alongside the state military, according to the Guardian and le Monde.

Markets proved volatile on Monday, May 7, after elections in France and Greece created uncertainty about the impact on financial markets of political shifts across the EuroZones. While European markets generally ended the day in the black, French banks saw considerable declines with drops between four and six percent for BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole, Reuters and Bloomberg reported. While prepared for the victory of Socialist François Hollande in France in the days leading up to the election on Sunday, May 6, it seems markets could generally give the nation a grace period before determining whether France’s first socialist president in 17 years could prove as much a detriment to the national and global economies as some fear. Standard & Poor’s said his election would have no immediate impact on France’s AA+ note, downgraded from AAA in January, according to the New York Times and 20 Minutes.

 While markets are being patient with France, whose new leader has vowed to promote economic growth, it seems the political turmoil in Greece is creating fear across the continent and beyond as the fall of mainstream parties, the emergence of more radical parties on both sides and the lack of consensus has led many to question whether Greece’s election of discontent could truly lead to a rejection of the international bailout and a departure from the EuroZone, as explored by the Christian Science Monitor and les Echos. Political rhetoric, such as that fromthe far-left Syriza, called on the new Greek government to reject the bailout terms previously agreed upon, furthering market instability in Germany and France, the EuroZone’s largest two economies, according to Bloomberg and le Point.

 U.S. job statistics for April, released on Friday, May 5, came in weaker than economists had hoped. After a strong start to the year, last month’s jobless rate decreased by just 0.1 percent to 8.1 percent, according to the New York Times and le Monde. Economists believe this decrease is not a result of increased hiring but reflects a large number of frustrated Americans leaving the job market, while the Wall Street Journal argued the slow job creation is due in part to cuts in public-sector jobs.

 HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, announced on Tuesday, May 8, that its earnings had risen 26 percent in the first quarter of 2012, as growth in Asia and Latin America made up for the impact of Europe’s economic woes, the New York Times and Boursier reported. The growth in pretax profit rose to $6.8 billion, up from $5.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, though HSBC did face a $2.6 billion charge off on the value of its debt, according to le Monde and the San Francisco Chronicle.