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Minister defends Sarkozy, Bruni
08/01/2008 12:45 - (SA)
Paris - French Education Minister Xavier Darcos on Tuesday defended President Nicolas Sarkozy in the face of growing criticism over his much-publicised romance with Italian pop singer Carla Bruni.
"I believe that a happy president, and I was about to say a president in love, is a president that has without a doubt more of a bounce in his step and will be more energetic and efficient in fulfilling his duties," said Darcos in an interview to LCI television.
Darcos spoke after a newspaper at the weekend owned by a close friend of the president reported that Sarkozy, 52, planned to marry 39-year-old Bruni, possibly on February 8 or 9.
After eight months in office, Sarkozy has suffered a worrying drop in his approval rating with the CSA polling agency finding that only 48% now trust the president to run the country - a fall of seven points on December.
After photos of Sarkozy and Bruni on vacation in Egypt and Jordan were splashed in the press, media commentators and the opposition Socialists charged that the president was holidaying while the French at home were grappling with inflation and a sluggish economy.
Darcos shot back at critics who say the president has overexposed his private life.
"The French people will have to get used to modernity," he said.
"There is nothing more natural than to show ourselves as we are, to be transparent, open as you would expect a modern couple to be," he said.
Sarkozy scheduled a two-hour news conference on Tuesday to outline future steps in his reform agenda and address questions over his private life.
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