Hollande dismisses French government

After the defeat of the ruling Socialist Party in municipal elections, French President Francois Hollande is dismissing the French government headed by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, a communique from Matignon Palace (Administration Cabinet) reads.

The President will announce his decision in his address to the nation at 20.00 (22.00 MSK ). It is expected that 51-year-old Manuel Valls, who has hitherto served as head of the Interior Ministry, will become the new prime minister, RIA Novosti reports.

Besides Valls, experts also named Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the outgoing mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, Mayor of Lille, the former head of the Socialist Party Martine Aubry, head of the Defense Ministry Jean-Yves Le Drian and Chairman of the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) Claude Bartolonaas as other possible candidates to head the government.

The second round of municipal elections took place in France yesterday, which was the first electoral test for President Hollande. Following the elections the Left lost control in 155 towns with populations of more than 9000 people, including a dozen towns with populations of more than 100,000 people: representatives of the Right took control of the mayoral offices of Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Angers, Reims, Caen, Tours, Limoges, Amiens, Argenteuil and Saint -Paul (Reunion). The results of the polls are evidence of the scale of the French people's disappointment in the government of the French Socialists, which came to power in mid-2012, and a strong signal for a correction of the political course.