French PM Cancels Germany Trip after Election Defeat
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced Monday he was canceling a trip to Germany in the wake of his party's drubbing in local polls.
The Socialists suffered a major defeat in Sunday elections, losing around half the local councils they controlled.
Valls was due to take part in an annual meeting of French and German ministers in Berlin on Tuesday, before heading to Frankfurt to meet officials at the European Central Bank.
But his office said he "has decided he should be present" for a meeting of Socialist MPs in Paris and question time in parliament.
The statement said Valls had made the decision in consultation with President Francois Hollande.
Valls has acknowledged the election results were a setback but vowed to continue with his program of reforms to pep up France's struggling economy.
There will be "new measures to boost private and public investment", said Valls in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.
Source: Agence France Presse
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