Ex-Partner Royal Says Hollande Government Has 'Lost Time'

Failed Socialist presidential contender Segolene Royal said Monday that French President Francois Hollande had moved too slowly on reforms and there was a feeling of "lost time" with the government.

Royal, who is also Hollande's ex-partner and has four children with the president, told newspaper Le Monde that his first year in office was marked by a lack of action.

"There is first of all a feeling of lost time," said Royal, who lost the 2007 presidential race to right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy.

"Things should have moved much faster," she said, adding that there has been disappointment with a lack of reforms to create jobs.

"It is essential that there be a comprehensive battle for employment," she said.

Royal lost her seat in last year's parliamentary elections and is now the head of the local council in the western Poitou-Charentes region.

She is reported to have a fierce rivalry with Hollande's current girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler.