Sarkozy admits mistakes

2008-04-25 07:37

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted on Thursday he had made "mistakes" during his first year in power but insisted he would press on with reforms despite his collapse in popularity.

"I probably made mistakes myself," Sarkozy said in a prime-time television interview, when asked to comment on polls that show three quarters of French voters are unhappy with his record in office.

Sarkozy also pointed at soaring oil prices and the fallout from the sub-prime loan crisis as explanations for the souring economic mood in France, which pollsters see as a key reason for his falling ratings.

"We have a difficult international context, all the more reason to accelerate reforms," the president said.

"For there to be disappointment... for there to be problems, for there to be difficulties, not only do I know that, but I was prepared for it," he said, in remarks broadcast on three major television networks.

Swept to power last May on a promise to kickstart the economy, Sarkozy has seen his popularity collapse in the polls faster than any president since World War II.

Only 28% of the French believe Sarkozy's presidency is going in the right direction, according to two polls by CSA and IFOP, while a separate survey showed 79% feel their lives have not improved in the past year.

The 53-year-old president paid a high political price for his divorce and celebrity romance with former supermodel Carla Bruni, France's new first lady, which jarred with an increasingly gloomy economic mood.

Thursday's 90-minute live question-and-answer session with five journalists has been billed as a key opportunity for him to turn the tide of public opinion.

- AFP