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Bruni pressure on Sarkozy
07/01/2008 17:42 - (SA)
Paris - Swirling marriage rumours and falling presidential approval ratings on Monday triggered charges that Nicolas Sarkozy is ignoring politics and spending too much energy publicising his affair with girlfriend Carla Bruni.
As the country returned to work after the New Year break, press commentators and left-wing politicians lined up to accuse the president of neglecting the day-to-day concerns of the public for his high-profile romance with the model-turned-singer.
The couple spent the weekend in Jordan, trailed by as ever by a large crowd of paparazzi, and returned to a France agog with newspaper reports that they plan to marry next month.
But other reports spoke of a worrying drop in the president's approval ratings over the last month, with the CSA polling agency finding that only 48 percent now trust the president to run the country - a fall of seven points on December.
Critics said that the end of Sarkozy's political honeymoon and the hints of a romantic one could be linked - with many voters feeling that their worries over the rising cost of living are not getting due attention.
"The exhibition of the head of state's private life is without a doubt connected to the fall in his trust ratings. The glitz may make some French people dream, but it annoys many others - especially those who find it hard to make ends meet," said L'Alsace newspaper.
According to an editorial in L'Union, "Quite apart from their economic difficulties, a substantial body of opinion clearly feels uneasy watching the latest manifestations of our hyper-president's private life, especially with all the deliberate media management."
'Obsessed with money and celebrity'
The president's opponents say he is obsessed with money and celebrity, and accuse him of trivialising politics by parading his romance in the media.
In the past, the French press has considered the private life of the head of state to be off-limits - but Sarkozy has regularly shown that he welcomes media attention and his relationship with Bruni was revealed when he let paparazzi photograph them at Disneyland.
"Sarkozy-ism is a style which could too easily descend into 'Star-kozyism,'" said Nice-Matin newspaper, a cry taken up by L'Est Republicain which said that "the French did not elect him to be a rock-star."
To seize back the initiative, the president was to hold a two-hour press conference on Tuesday morning in which aides said that all the major issues of the day will be addressed - including his love life.
Sarkozy was expected to announce his intention to press ahead with reforms in the coming months, with the focus on labour market rules and a plan for the poor suburbs.
The president's ally Prime Minister Francois Fillon warned against reading too much into the latest opinion polls.
"It is all relative. What counts is putting into place long-term reforms. We have to get out of this culture of immediacy .... It is not the polls that pass judgment, but the electors in five years' time," he said.
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South Africa
