French President François Hollande May Not Stand for Re-Election

France’s President François Hollande said Thursday that he may not stand for re-election in 2017 if he fails to cut unemployment by the end of his term.

“If I cannot manage it by the end of my term in office, do you really think I would go before the French in 2017?” he said in a televised interview with French TV channel TF1.

Hollande admitted that it was a mistake to promise that he could bring down the rise in joblessness, which currently stands at 11%.

But the 60-year-old vowed to “go to the end” to reform France’s weak economy.

A poll released Thursday shows the Socialist Party leader has an approval rating of just 12%.

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Write to Helen Regan at helen.regan@timeasia.com.