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IN PICTURES: The defining moments of Hollande’s presidency

François Hollande's presidency has been overshadowed by an unprecedented wave of jihadist attacks, violent protests over labour reforms and revelations about his messy private life.

IN PICTURES: The defining moments of Hollande's presidency
Hollande and Gayet chatting on a terrace of the Elysée Palace. Photo: Voici

Following are some of the defining moments of his mandate which began in 2012 and which he confirmed Thursday would be his last.

Three major terror attacks

Since January 2015, 238 people have been killed in a series of jihadist attacks, mostly the work of French radicals acting in the name of Islamic State (IS) or other extremist groups.

Hollande leans over the coffin of late Police officer Ahmed Merabet who was killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015. Photo: AFP

Hollande won praise for rallying a shocked nation after the first attacks on the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket.

Around 50 heads of state joined him on a march against terror that brought over 3.7 million people onto the streets of France.

Photo: AFP

Ten months later, he reacted quickly when IS massacred 130 people in Paris at the Bataclan concert hall, at cafes and bars, and outside the national stadium.

Hollande flanked by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem stands among students as they hold a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Sorbonne University in Paris on November 16, 2016.

Hollande immediately announced a state of emergency, declaring that France was “at war” and deploying troops to patrol the streets.

 

Hollande deploys a plaque at the Bataclan concert hall, a prime target of the November attacks in Paris where 130 people were killed on November 13, 2015. Photo: AFP

But in July, when a 31-year-old Tunisian mowed down 86 people enjoying Bastille Day festivities in Nice, accusations began to mount that Hollande's government was failing to rise to the threat of extremism.

Visiting the command centre for France's anti-terror “Vigipirate” plan at the fort of Vincennes, on the outskirts of Paris, in July 2016. Photo: AFP

A tumultuous private life

Before coming to office Hollande took jabs at the romantic antics of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy — who married supermodel Carla Bruni while president — vowing that on personal matters, he himself would be “exemplary”.

But cracks quickly began to show in Hollande's relationship with long-term partner Valerie Trierweiler, and the couple split after it emerged he had been having an affair with an actress nearly 20 years his junior, Julie Gayet.

Photo: AFP

Trierweiler published a best-selling memoir that proved deeply embarrassing to Hollande, not least through its claim that the Socialist leader disdained the poor.

Photo: AFP

To make matters more complicated, Hollande has four children from an earlier relationship with Environment Minister Segolene Royal.

Violent labour protests

Hollande came to power on a leftist platform — including a top tax rate of 75 percent — but later shifted towards business-friendly policies, notably trying to tackle France's famously rigid labour laws.

Riot police in Paris during the protests. Photo: AFP

His government suffered months of violent protests this year over reforms designed to make it easier to hire people but also easier to fire them, before finally managing to get a watered-down version passed over the summer.

Foreign wars

Hollande launched a military operation in Mali in January 2013 to stop the advance of Islamists who had taken over swathes of northern Mali, a former French colony.

Hollande salutes Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris. Photo: AFP

The following December, a second operation was launched in the Central African Republic — another former colonial possession — in a bid to restore stability to a country gripped by religious violence.

Jihadists remain active in Mali and a vast portion of the country remains out of government control, while violence also remains rife in CAR.

Hollande in front of the coffin of a French soldier killed in service in Mali. Photo: AFP

Hollande also sought to intervene in Syria in 2013, but backed out of air strikes when it became clear that US President Barack Obama did not intend to follow suit.

Photo: AFP

France only began air strikes in Syria in late 2015 as part of an international coalition targeting IS. French raids against IS in Iraq had begun a year earlier in September 2014.

Row over French nationality

After the Paris attacks, Hollande sought to modify the constitution to allow convicted terrorists to be stripped of their French nationality if they were dual-nationals.

The issue sparked fierce debate over the ethics of such a move, with Hollande's Justice Minister Christiane Taubira quitting in protest.

Hollande and Taubira. Photo: AFP

Hollande finally axed the idea in March. In his announcement Thursday that he would not seek re-election, he flagged up the row as the one major regret of his presidency

Global climate deal

Hollande campaigned hard for the historic climate agreement signed in Paris last December, and hailed it in his speech Thursday as one of his key achievements.

Celebrating the the adoption of a historic global warming pact at the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris. Photo: AFP

 
Hollande shakes hands with Ecuadorians at a stand at the COP21 summit in Paris. Photo: AFP

Gay marriage

The Socialist leader had made “marriage for all” one of his election pledges, and same-sex marriages were signed into law in April 2013, despite angry protests by tens of thousands of social conservatives.

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POLITICS

France’s Uyghurs say Xi visit a ‘slap’ from Macron

Uyghurs in France on Friday said President Emmanuel Macron welcoming his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week was tantamount to "slapping" them.

France's Uyghurs say Xi visit a 'slap' from Macron

Xi is due to make a state visit to France on Monday and Tuesday.

Dilnur Reyhan, the founder of the European Uyghur Institute and a French national, said she and others were “angry” the Chinese leader was visiting.

“For the Uyghur people — and in particular for French Uyghurs — it’s a slap from our president, Emmanuel Macron,” she said, describing the Chinese leader as “the executioner of the Uyghur people”.

Beijing stands accused of incarcerating more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across the Xinjiang region.

Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.

A UN report last year detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence — as well as forced labour — in the region.

But it stopped short of labelling Beijing’s actions a “genocide”, as the United States and some other Western lawmakers have done.

Beijing consistently denies abuses and claims the allegations are part of a deliberate smear campaign to contain its development.

It says it is running vocational training centres in Xinjiang which have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.

Standing beside Reyhan at a press conference in Paris, Gulbahar Haitiwaji, who presented herself as having spent three years in a detention camp, said she was “disappointed”.

“I am asking the president to bring up the issue of the camps with China and to firmly demand they be shut down,” she said.

Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Macron during the visit to “lay out consequences for the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity and deepening repression”.

“Respect for human rights has severely deteriorated under Xi Jinping’s rule,” it said.

“His government has committed crimes against humanity… against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, adopted draconian legislation that has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms, and intensified repression of government critics across the country.”

“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch

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