Government > Leaders Stats: compare key data on France & Singapore

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STAT	France	Singapore	HISTORY
Head of state > Term limit for head of state	5 Ranked 108th.	6 Ranked 15th. 20% more than France
President	Francois Hollande	Tony Tan
President > Profile	<p>Francois Hollande beat the conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, in May 2012 to become France&#039;s first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand held the post from 1981 to 1995.</p> <p>The standard-bearer of the right wing of the party, Mr Hollande saw off the more left-wing Martine Aubry in public primaries to become his party&#039;s presidential candidate.</p> <p>Despite his reputation as a moderate, Mr Hollande campaigned on strongly left-wing proposals, including a 75% top income tax rate, 60,000 new teachers, and the renegotiation of the European Union fiscal growth pact.</p> <p>His Socialists went on to won a comfortable majority in the June 2012 parliamentary elections, ensuring that President Hollande would not have to count on far-left or Green votes.</p> <p>But by the end of 2012, Mr Hollande&#039;s economic plans were in trouble, with growth stagnant and the continuing woes of the eurozone promising no relief.</p> <p>France continued to dip in an out of recession throughout the next year, and Mr Hollande&#039;s failure to make good on his promise to reduce unemployment by the end of 2013 left him with the lowest approval rating of any president since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.</p> <p>His decision to opt for raising taxes rather than cutting spending - an option unpopular with his natural supporters - has come close to triggering a taxpayers&#039; revolt.</p> <p>Mr Hollande has also come under pressure from Brussels, with the EU Commission urging France to reduce its budget deficit and bring down public spending - the highest per capita in Europe.</p> <p>His private life also threatened potential embarrassment after claims of an affair with actress Julie Gayet prompted media questions about his partner Valerie Trierweiler&#039;s status as first lady.</p> <p>On the international stage, Mr Hollande has taken a strong lead in pushing for a more interventionist approach towards shoring up states threatened with destabilisation. </p> <p>In January 2013, he sent troops to Mali to help government regain control over the north of the country from Islamist militants, and in December he deployed additional peacekeepers to the Central African Republic to help restore order after a rebel takeover.</p> <p>Born in 1954 in Rouen, Normandy, and a product of the &quot;grandes ecoles&quot; elite education system, Mr Hollande was an economic advisor to President Mitterrand, and became an MP in 1988.</p> <p>He rose to lead the party in the long years of opposition in 1997-2008, and stood down over a party row about the failed presidential campaign of his long-standing partner, Segolene Royal.</p> <p>Mr Hollande and Ms Royal later split up over his affair with journalist Valerie Trierweiler, now his partner.</p> <p>He emerged as the Socialist candidate after the favourite, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, saw his political career collapse in 2011 amid allegations of sexual misconduct.</p>	<p>Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister, won the 2011 presidential election by a narrow margin. He was seen as the establishment candidate. </p> <p>All four candidates in the election - the first of its kind for 18 years - shared the same surname, Tan. </p> <p>Presidential candidates run as individuals because Singapore&#039;s head of state is supposed to be non-partisan. </p>
President > Summary	Mr Hollande&#039;s tax rises have met with fierce resistance	Tony Tan
Prime minister	Jean-Marc Ayrault	Lee Hsien Loong
Prime minister > Profile	<p>Jean-Marc Ayrault, a long-standing ally of President Hollande, is a veteran leader of the Socialists&#039; parliamentary bloc and mayor of Nantes. The premiership is his first senior government post. </p> <p>He has a reputation as a calm consensus-builder. Mr Ayrault is a German-speaker, seen as an asset for the president in handling France&#039;s relationship with Germany. </p>	<p>The elder son of Singapore&#039;s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Loong took office in August 2004, without an election, as part of a planned handover of power. </p> <p>He vowed to continue the policy of opening up Singapore&#039;s society. </p><p>Mr Lee won re-election with typically large PAP majorities in 2006 and 2011. However, the opposition made some significant gains in 2011, spurred by voter concern about income inequality and immigration. </p> <p>The prime minister said the election marked a &quot;shift in the political landscape&quot;, and said his party would undergo &quot;soul-searching&quot;. </p> <p>A former army officer, Mr Lee followed his father into politics at the age of 32, becoming deputy prime minister in 1990. </p> <p>As finance minister in his predecessor&#039;s cabinet, he was credited with helping to secure Singapore&#039;s competitive edge amid growing competition from China. </p> <p>Mr Lee&#039;s father, who oversaw the transformation of Singapore into an economic power, served as the cabinet&#039;s official mentor between 2004 and 2011, when he said it was time to make way for a younger generation. </p>
Prime minister > Summary	Jean-Marc Ayrault was elected as prime minister in May 2012	Lee Hsien Loong

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