French president says he’s having painful moments
Print Edition
Under pressure over a magazine report that he is having a secret affair with an actress, French President Francois Hollande said yesterday he is going through “painful moments” but otherwise sidestepped specifics on his personal life.
Hollande’s partner, journalist Valerie Trierweiler, has been in hospital since Friday, when Closer published photos it said proved Hollande’s liaison with Julie Gayet. The report has heaped new pressure on the already unpopular Hollande.
He was asked following a major economic policy speech yesterday whether Trierweiler remains the first lady. In his first comments since the magazine report, Hollande responded: “Everyone in his or her personal life can go through ordeals — that’s the case with us.”
Hollande said his “indignation is total” over the report, calling it a “violation that touches a personal liberty.” He did not say whether the report was true.
The latest revelations call into question whether a complex personal life can be private for someone with round-the-clock bodyguards, and about the role of “first lady” in France. Trierweiler is the first person to hold the post who was not married to the president.
Hollande said he will clarify who the first lady is before he takes a presidential trip to the United States on February 11, but he wouldn’t comment further.
The first lady doesn’t have formal status in France, but in practice they have an office in the presidential palace and a small staff.
The pictures published in Closer included one of a man the magazine said was Hollande being ferried by motorcycle to an apartment where Gayet waited.
A leading legislator from the opposition conservative UMP party accused the president of taking unreasonable risks with his security. “The president is not a normal citizen during his term. He is the chief of our armies. He is the keystone of our institutions. His protection should not suffer from any amateurism,” Christian Jacob said in the National Assembly.
“The president should be aware of the level of responsibility that he exercises, be aware that his role is greater than his person, and be aware that he incarnates the image of France in the eyes of the world.”
Hollande said: “My security is assured everywhere, and at any moment. When I travel officially ... and when I travel on a private basis, I have protection that is less suffocating. But I am protected everywhere.”
Photographer Sebastian Valiela said he was surprised at the lack of security for Hollande, whose government has been repeatedly threatened by al-Qaida.
“To go to the rendezvous with Julie Gayet, he was taking some risks,” he told RTL. “As soon as he got into the apartment, his guards left.”
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