French PM Expected to Join Race for Presidential Election

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is expected to announce he is entering the race to be the Socialist candidate for next year’s presidential election, after Francois Hollande said he would not stand, a move that would mean a government reshuffle.

Valls has called a news conference for 1730 GMT on Monday, and even before any announcement, French media were citing the health, interior and finance ministers as possible heads of what would effectively be a caretaker government if Valls stands down to focus on the presidential election.

Valls, 54, has made no secret of his desire to seek the Socialist ticket, even though he faces stiff competition from the more traditional left of his party at the primary in January. The prime minister has a more centrist, business-friendly stance on economic policies, combined with a reputation as a hardliner on law and order.

Surveys suggest he would win the Socialist Party ticket, but faces a tough fight against left-wing firebrand Arnaud Montebourg, one of several people taking part in the primary.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza