Paris - Embattled French President Francois Hollande defended his first two years in office on the anniversary of his election on Tuesday, rejecting accusations of “amateurism” as he vowed to speed up reforms.
Struggling with the worst popularity ratings of any modern French leader, Hollande promised to do more to turn around France's stagnant economy and kickstart job creation.
“We must go even faster because this is unacceptable to the French, they want results,” Hollande said during an interview with BFMTV and RMC radio.
He vowed to “go even faster on reforms” to reduce red tape, cut labour costs and decrease taxes.
Hollande rejected accusations that his government had suffered from amateur mistakes.
“Was it amateurism to emerge from the eurozone crisis? Amateurism when we intervened in Mali when no one else did and terrorism was winning the game? Amateurism to go into the Central African Republic to prevent genocide?” Hollande said.
“All I am asking is to be judged at the end of my mandate” in 2017, he said. - AFP