French president François Hollande will be aiming to deflect the glare away from his private life and onto his plans for the country’s economy during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.<br /><br />The annual, start-of-year event is Hollande’s first public appearance since allegations he had been unfaithful to his long-term partner, Valérie Trierweiler, were published.<br /><br />After hearing the allegations, Trierweiler was hospitalised, supposedly in a state of shock.<br /><br />France doesn’t have an official “First Lady” title, but Hollande’s partner resides at and has her own office in the Elysée Palace and accompanies him on official visits.<br /><br />Following the president’s alleged affair with actress Julie Gayet, questions are being raised about Trierweiler’s status.<br /><br />Hollande has never married, but left former partner Segolène Royal, who is said to be close to Gayet, to be with his current partner.<br /><br />A magazine article, published last week, showed a photo of a man said to be the president visiting a flat in Paris at the same time as Gayet.<br /><br />Strict privacy laws hang over the French media. While Hollande has not denied the affair, he has protested at the invasion of his privacy. <br /><br />Opinion polls suggest Hollande is one of the most unpopular presidents France has ever known; many French people are more concerned about his plans to boost their country’s economy and lower unemployment, than the details of his private life.<br /><br />According to euronews’ correspondent in Paris:<br /><br />“The scandal of the alleged affair with actress Julie Gayet has come at a time when François Hollande’s popularity was slowly starting to climb from a record low to where it was when he started. For the French president, this is undoubtedly the most difficult moment of the first 20 months of his mandate.”<br /><br />Tuesday’s press conference has been long-planned and will aim to “remain a major political event”, according to the president’s spokesman, David Assouline.
