Valérie Trierweiler

In an interview on BFMTV on Tuesday Royal, who hopes to become speaker of the National Assembly, insisted that she had the president’s full support and that she would not quit politics should Falorni beat her on Sunday.

“François Hollande said very clearly that I am the only candidate that he will support in this vote,” she said. “He said that I am the only candidate that shares the vision with his government. If I lose it will be because of the UMP faction [in Charente-Maritime] that wants me out.”

“Good luck to Olivier Falorni who is a worthy candidate and who has been fighting next to the people of Rochelle with selfless commitment,“ the 47-year-old Paris Match journalist tweeted.

The Rottweiler bites back: French First Lady Valerie tweets support for the rival of Hollande’s ex  The live-in lover of French President Francois Hollande today infuriated the mother of his four children by backing her electoral rival for a place in Parliament.

Valerie Trierweiler, 47, has never made any secret of her dislike for Segolene Royal, the 58-year-old who shared Mr Hollande’s life for more than 30 years.

Ms Royal was, in turn, devastated when Mr Hollande left her for Ms Trierweiler, a Paris Match magazine journalist, in 2007.

Politics in France always contains a potentially explosive element of sex and affairs of the heart mixed into public life. But the newest case of politics colliding with the personal in France has taken things to a new, uncomfortable high.

Valérie Trierweiler voiced her support for a dissident leftist challenging the official candidate from President François Hollande’s Socialist Party (PS) in the city of la Rochelle. But in addition to violating internal party discipline, Trierweiler’s move also risks creating serious domestic stress within the Elysée. The official PS candidate in question is Ségolène Royal—Hollande’s ex-partner of nearly 30 years, whose bid the President has publicly backed.

Uncomfortable, indeed.

President François Hollande of France is facing a personal and political crisis after the first lady Valérie Trierweiler openly backed a rival of his ex-partner Ségolène Royal in parliamentary elections.

In what has been dubbed “the war of the roses”, a single explosive tweet from Miss Trierweiler supporting Miss Royal’s rival sent shock waves through the Socialist party’s parliamentary election campaign. Some warned that the bombshell could cost Mr Hollande’s party crucial seats on Sunday.

In the space of a jaw-dropping tweet, First Lady Valérie Trierweiler sowed political chaos in France. In a stunning development many thought was a hoax, Trierweiler on Tuesday came out in favor of a dissident Socialist running in a key legislative election next Sunday. Trouble is, the dissident is running againstSocialist President François Hollande’s former romantic partner, Ségolène Royal.

The Twitterverse—as well as Hollande’s opposition—is eating it up, while the new first lady is being accused of overstepping her role. As Trierweiler confirmed the endorsement in a simple “Yes” text message in response toAgence France Presse’s query authenticating the tweet this afternoon, one 24-hour news station is talking up the “Psychodrama in La Rochelle.”

War of the Roses

Ségolène Royal gets tweet-slapped by Hollande’s girlfriend

Hollande was Royal’s unmarried partner for decades and is the father of her four children.

He stood at her side during her 2007 failed presidential bid even though he had been in a relationship with Trierweiler since 2005.

Reports of rivalry between the two women led to speculation, which Trierweiler denies, that the current first lady had Royal airbrushed out of a film screened to Socialist faithful at Hollande’s January campaign launch.

Hollande, who is not married to Trierweiler, has publicly thrown his weight behind Royal, writing that she is “the only candidate of the presidential majority who can be assured of my support”.

In a tweet, Trierweiler praised Olivier Falorni, who is running against Royal for the La Rochelle constituency in Sunday’s second round of the parliamentary elections.

“Good luck to Olivier Falorni who is a worthy candidate,” the Paris Match journalist wrote. “For years he has been fighting with selfless commitment for the people of La Rochelle.”

Pictured at a news conference in La Rochelle, Segolene Royal, right, sits next to socialist party first secretary, Martine Aubry

Now Ms Royal, herself a former Socialist government minister who stood for the presidency in 2007, is standing for a place in the National Assembly.

Ms Royal gained 32 per cent of the vote in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday in the western constituency of La Rochelle, and hopes to win outright in the second round on Sunday.

President Francois Hollande’s girlfriend has set the French political establishment aghast with a tweet of support for the man running against the mother of Hollande’s children.

The tweet on Tuesday signed by Valerie Trierweiler went viral on the Internet and dominated news shows.

Valérie Trierweiler, la campagne de François Hollande, a boosté les ventes de la marque corrézienne «Le Tanneur», dont la première dame est une grande fan.

(Source: pipole.net)

Valérie Trierweiler continuera de collaborer avec Paris Match. Dans l’absolu, la compagne du président de la République serait également désireuse de continuer à officier sur Direct 8, où elle a longtemps animé une émission politique avant de prendre une orientation culturelle pour ne pas prêter le flan à la critique.

Yannick Bolloré, patron de la chaîne, comme Guy Lagache, directeur des programmes lui ont toujours maintenu leur confiance, mais les deux hommes ne vont plus être aux manettes dans quelques mois.

Début octobre, Canal+ doit devenir, si elle franchit tous les obstacles juridiques et si elle en éprouve toujours le désir, propriétaire de Direct 8. Au vu des contraintes que l’Autorité de la concurrence assigne à Canal, il n’est pas certain, en effet, que la chaîne dirigée par Rodolphe Belmer éprouve toujours le désir de concrétiser cette affaire. 

Dans ces conditions, Canal+ ne peut pas affirmer aujourd’hui que Valérie Trierweiler restera sur Direct 8.

La direction de Paris Match a confirmé hier que la compagne de François Hollande continuera à travailler pour le magazine ; mais la question de la place des journalistes qui vivent avec des politiques reste en débat. Votre parti pris : Valérie Trierweiler a le droit d’avoir un métier, pas un statut ! Que voulez-vous dire ?