????Under pressure over a magazine report that he is having a secret affair with an actress, French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday he is going through “painful moments” but otherwise sidestepped specifics on his personal life. ? FRENCH President Francois Hollande is expected to use his traditional New Year’s news conference Tuesday to announce reforms to kick-start the country’s economy, combat widespread unemployment and boost his lamentable popularity with the public. ????However, the event risks being hijacked by a very different affair of state that is dominating French headlines: The president’s alleged trysts with an actress. ????Hollande’s personal and political woes began Jan. 10 when a celebrity magazine published a seven-page “special report” complete with photographs of the president, 59, crossing Paris on the back of a scooter, apparently to rendezvous with 41-year-old actress Julie Gayet. ????The photos in Closer magazine were said to show the president being taken to an apartment in Paris’ chic 8th arrondissement, where he allegedly stayed the night. Other photos show the president’s bodyguard delivering croissants the following morning. ????Hollande’s administration moved into crisis-management mode, with the president threatening legal action for breach of privacy but not denying reports of the affair. However, hours after the revelations, Hollande’s partner, Valerie Trierweiler, was taken to a hospital, suffering what friends told journalists was a “severe bout of the blues.” But later Trierweiler was said to have “rest and a few tests” by her chief of staff, Patrice Biancone. ????The scandal took another unexpected turn Monday with claims that the apartment used for the president’s alleged secret meetings with Gayet was linked to the Corsican mafia. ????The French investigative website Mediapart reported that Gayet had been lent the apartment by a friend whose ex-husband was convicted of money laundering in November 2013 and that the friend’s boyfriend was shot to death in May in a suspected gangland killing. ????Neither of the men had lived at the property, but the connection raised fears about Hollande’s security. ????Hollande vowed at the conference that he will deal with the affair in private, but kept mum on the future of Trierweiler. ????Hollande admitted the couple were going through “painful moments” and indicated that the status of his long-term girlfriend would be clarified before a scheduled trip to the United States next month. ????Asked directly if Trierweiler was still France’s First Lady, he insisted on the troubled couple’s right to privacy. ????“I understand your question and I’m sure you will understand my response,” he said. ????“Everyone in their personal lives can go through tough times. That is the case [for me]. These are painful moments. ????“But I have one principle: These private affairs are dealt with in private. This is neither the time nor the place to do it so I will not be responding to any questions about my private life.” ????The instruction did the trick and Hollande visibly relaxed as it became apparent he was not going be given the kind of grilling a leader in Britain or the United States could have expected under similar circumstances. ????After the opening question, Hollande was not asked directly about Trierweiler until questioned on her state of health nearly two hours later. “She’s resting and I have no further comment to make,” he replied. ????Hollande would not be the first French president to indulge in affairs. His Socialist predecessor, Francois Mitterrand, a married man, led a double life with a mistress and daughter for more than 20 years. Mitterrand’s secret “second family,” known to a handful of journalists who maintained a self-imposed silence, came to light shortly before his death of prostate cancer in 1996. ????According to a poll published, 77 percent of French voters surveyed thought the president’s love life was nobody’s business but his own, and 84 percent said it would not change their opinion of Hollande, who is deeply unpopular. ????Meanwhile, Hollande has received support from across the political spectrum. Even bitter rival Marine Le Pen, president of the far-right National Front, said she did not care to know about his private life “as long as it did not cost the taxpayer a cent.” ????Francois Rebsamen, a Socialist lawmaker who counts himself among Hollande’s friends, said the revelations showed the entire idea of a first lady was obsolete. ????“Francois Hollande himself said it at one point: You elect a person. And then this person can live alone, can be single, can live with another man or a woman. It’s no one’s business and it doesn’t come into play.” ????Before Hollande met Trierweiler, he had shared over 30 years with Socialist politician Segolene Royal, with whom he has four children. They separated in 2007. ????A few months after his split from Royal, a French website published details of a relationship between Hollande and Trierweiler. In November 2007, Trierweiler confirmed and openly discussed her relationship with Hollande. She remained a reporter for the magazine Paris Match, but ceased work on political stories. ????Seen as cold and distant, Trierweiler has followed Hollande on international visits and played the role of first lady, but unlike her predecessor Carla Bruni, wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, has failed to capture the hearts of the French public. ????Although they are not married, Hollande’s reported affair is shining a new spotlight on the nearly 20,000 euros (US$27,210) in taxpayer money spent each month on the first lady’s staff and office in the presidential palace. ????Trierweiler’s next presidential voyage was meant to be to Washington next month. ????Snide tweeters are suggesting it’s time for Trierweiler to go. Hollande, when asked about the public money spent on his partner, said it should be made transparent — and kept as low as possible. ????Trierweiler’s widely viewed as the reason that Hollande split from Royal. ????The prominent political couple formally separated just after Royal lost her bid for the presidency in 2007, but it later emerged that Hollande had been having an affair with Trierweiler during the campaign. ????After that, the relationship between Hollande’s leading women remained tense. ????When Hollande was president and Trierweiler installed as “First Girlfriend,” Trierweiler tweeted her support for Royal’s rival in a parliamentary election campaign. It went viral, and was seen as a gratuitous dig at Royal. ????(SD-Agencies) | 