Photo: AFPFormer French president Francois Hollande said on Wednesday he has not turned his back on politics, after criticizing his successor and former protégé in the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron. The former president on Tuesday said the 39-year-old Macron should not "demand needless sacrifices from the French". Hollande had plucked Macron from virtual obscurity to make him his financial advisor before naming him economy minister in 2014. He issued the warning as Macron's Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud began meetings with union leaders over labour reforms, an issue that sparked a series of sometimes violent protests across France last year. On May 14th, the day Macron was inaugurated, Hollande said of his own political future "you should never say never in life".

Source: The Local August 24, 2017 07:52 UTC