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                   France's Hollande Eyes Minister Reshuffle

   by Reuters

   French President Francois Hollande has promised to weed out
   underperforming ministers as he strives to win back support from a
   public impatient over still unfulfilled promises to restore jobs and
   growth.
   The Socialist Hollande, whose poll ratings are among the worst for a
   post-World War II French leader, told weekly magazine Paris Match his
   ministers would be judged on their results just as he has asked voters
   to do with him.
   Hollande and his government have pleaded for time for reforms to bear
   fruit after his one-year anniversary in power was marked on Sunday by
   mass street protests. But he said he was prepared to legislate more by
   decree to get future measures into law faster, and would change his
   team to ensure economic reforms were implemented.

   "At some point, choices and adjustments will have to be made," he told
   the magazine in comments published on Tuesday. "The reshuffle will
   happen when the time is right. What the French people want today are
   results. This team must produce results on employment, housing,
   consumption, education and France's place in the world. Everyone will
   be judged on their results - me above all."
   A year into his term, Hollande's ratings have slumped faster than any
   other president's to as low as 25 percent. With the economy slipping
   into recession, he faces an uphill battle to meet a promise to halt by
   year-end a long climb in unemployment to 10.6 percent. Many voters who
   initially saw his consensus-seeking style as a welcome change from his
   all-controlling predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy now view him as lacking
   authority over a team where left-wingers such as anti-globalisation
   Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg clash openly with more centrist
   ministers.
   French media have speculated that Montebourg could be at risk in a
   possible reshuffle that has been the talk of Paris political circles
   since former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac quit in March over a secret
   Swiss bank account.
   Asked directly if Montebourg's popularity with left-wing voters
   protected him from being ejected from the government, Hollande replied:
   "No one is protected in the government. No one has immunity."

   Supporters of Hollande say a recent labor law overhaul, aimed at making
   hiring and firing more flexible, and measures taken in November to ease
   labor costs amount to bigger reforms than any of his conservative
   predecessors attempted. Hollande said that to avoid the legislative
   tangles that can hold up new laws even despite his Socialist Party's
   majority in parliament, the government would start legislating more by
   decree, as it is doing in a push to get more housing built.
   "A big lesson from my first year is that the legislative process is too
   slow for the needs of the French people and the demands of companies,"
   he said. "We must act more quickly."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/frances-hollande-eyes-minister-reshuf
   fle/1656102.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/frances-hollande-eyes-minister-reshuffle/1656102.html