French President Francois Hollande's popularity has surged to its highest level in nearly a year and a half after the deadly Islamist attacks in Paris - albeit from near record lows, a poll showed on Saturday.
French President Francois Hollande's popularity has surged to its highest level in nearly a year and a half after the deadly Islamist attacks in Paris - albeit from near record lows, a poll showed on Saturday.
Hollande, the most unpopular leader in modern French polling, has been broadly praised in the media and by analysts for his handling of the attacks. His popularity rating has jumped to 34%, from 24% before the attacks, according to a BVA poll. That marked his best rating since May 2013.
Hollande rushed to the site of the first attack on January 7, where two Islamist militants stormed the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people. Four people were also killed by another gunman during a hostage-taking in a Kosher deli. The following Sunday, Hollande led a march with other world leaders that mobilised what some commentators said was the biggest crowd in Paris since its liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944.
The poll boost was not limited to Hollande. His Prime Minister Manuel Valls has seen his popularity climb to 44% from 35% before the attacks. The improved image is a political boon for Hollande and his government as parliament begins debating a contested bill aimed at injecting more competition into the struggling economy. It also offers some relief to Hollande's Socialist Party, which has been bracing for heavy losses in regional district elections due in March.
The poll showed that the party's popularity had risen above that of the far-right National Front, which has struggled to formulate a coherent response to the attacks, for the first time since May 2014. The poll for Orange and ITELE was conducted on January 13-14. Nearly 1,300 people were questioned over the Internet after having been solicited by telephone.
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