The 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections have significantly changed the political spectrum of France, which has made a left turn with Francois Hollande, leader of the Socialist Party, elected President and the left-wing party coalition led by the Socialist Party having won a majority in the National Assembly. The French economy fell into stagnation since quarter 3 2011 with a drastically rising unemployment rate. Although France has remarkably cut its financial deficit, it is still facing a serious debt problem. Affected by the debt crisis, the issue of immigration presented greater challenges to the government. With Mr. Hollande as President of France, more divergences have emerged in the Franco-German alliance than at the time of Merkozy. Although Hollande claimed to break with Sarkozy's African policy, there are in fact no fundamental differences in the policies between the left- and the right- wing. <<