Hollande’s plans to announce split foiled

Francois Hollande planned to announce to the world’s press last Tuesday that he and Valerie Trierweiler had officially split, but his plans were scrapped after his partner was hospitalised, according to reports.

Concern over the well-being of Trierweiler mounted as the official partner of President Hollande remained in hospital and it emerged he has not visited her once.

Trierweiler has now spent a week in a Paris clinic being treated for stress. She was admitted last Friday just hours after it was revealed that her partner had been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, rumoured to be four months pregnant.

Sources close to the couple said Hollande had not been to visit Trierweiler in hospital and confirmed media suggestions that the couple’s relationship had been unravelling for months.

Citing journalist friends of Trierweiler who have been in touch with her, Europe 1 radio described the former Paris Match political reporter as being in a state of nervous exhaustion characterised by extreme mood swings. The usually reliable station also reported she was preoccupied with the idea that “enemies” at the Elysee Palace must have conspired to ensure Hollande’s affair became public with the aim of forcing her out.

A number of media reports have cited Elysee aides as hinting that they believe her hospitalisation amounts to “emotional blackmail” designed to prevent Hollande from dumping her.

In an account of the last week’s developments, France’s best-known magazine, Paris Match, depicts a relationship in its death throes, describing how Trierweiler became increasingly isolated and lonely as Hollande grappled with the pressures of office, which have been exacerbated by a stagnant economy and his plummeting ratings.

A source who has known Hollande for most of his political career said the view at the Elysee Palace was that he had emerged as well as could be expected from Tuesday’s press conference, the mainstream media having quickly switched their attention to economic reforms seen as a significant change of direction by the government. But aides are pressing him to quickly state whether or not he is still in a relationship with Trierweiler.

“The problem is that he cannot say anything for as long as she is in hospital,” the source said, adding that he believed Hollande could simply declare he was now a “single president” in a move that would prevent the issue of a girlfriend’s status from coming up in the future.

Meanwhile, Le Nouvel Observateur, the left-leaning weekly magazine, reported Mr Hollande had hoped to get his official partner to sign a joint announcement of their separation last Saturday.

It said Hollande believed an announcement of a clean break with France’s de facto First Lady to the world’s press was the best solution to the controversy. But then Hollande learned on the Sunday night that Trierweiler’s stay in hospital would be extended and abandoned his press announcement.

Hollande instead told the media he will “clarify” the situation before a visit to the White House on Feb 11.

Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, is reported to be delighted by the recent turn of events, as he contemplates a political comeback which could see him go head-to-head with Hollande once more in the 2017 presidential election. Sarkozy, who separated from his wife Cecilia and started a relationship with supermodel Carla Bruni during his term of office, said he would never have made the mistake of being photographed, as Hollande was, turning up for secret trysts.

“That is why I made things official with Carla quickly,” Sarkozy was quoted as telling friends by satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine. “When you are president of the Republic you have to be aware of the risk of looking ridiculous and these photos of Hollande in his motorbike helmet leaving his mistress’s place has made him ridiculous. He is president ridiculous.”