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November 04, 2009 09:39 AM
France's Sarkozy sees ratings slump, woes mount
French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech to unveil France's second national plan against cancer in Marseille, southern France, November 2, 2009. REUTERS/Eric Feferberg/PoolBy James Mackenzie
PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's approval ratings have fallen sharply following an uproar over plans to install his son as head of the agency in charge of the Paris business district La Defense, a poll on Tuesday showed.
Sarkozy's personal approval rating dropped six points to 39 percent, its lowest level, in a regular poll by the Ifop institute to be published in the weekly Paris Match on Thursday.
"This constitutes a clear sign of the twin dimension of the crisis last month: a crisis of governance and a crisis over the gap between the government's actions and the worries of citizens," Ifop said in a note on the survey.
Over recent weeks, a series of incidents have damaged Sarkozy's image as a tough leader committed to reforming France and breaking with the failed policies of past governments.
At the same time, he has faced growing discontent among lawmakers from his own centre-right UMP parties over subjects ranging from regional government reform to a planned carbon tax that will raise petrol prices.
After a group of senators said in a public statement they would not approve his plan to scrap a business tax, Sarkozy called his troops to order.
"Reforms are difficult. We have to stay united," he told party leaders in a meeting, according to a participant.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon also urged lawmakers not to use the press as a discussion forum.
FALL IN RATINGS
The spats with disgruntled lawmakers have compounded Sarkozy's woes after weeks of gaffes and scandals that have alienated voters.
The fall in the ratings was particularly marked among UMP voters (down 9 points) and the far right National Front (down 10 points) as well as among voters under 35 years (down 9 points).
A plan to put his 23-year-old son Jean in charge of La Defense, a zone of skyscrapers, banks and corporate headquarters that accounts for 10 percent of French economic output, sparked one of the biggest outcries since Sarkozy came to power in 2007.
The scale of the uproar forced Jean Sarkozy, a local councillor and undergraduate student still in the second year of his law degree, to renounce his ambitions to lead the agency, despite vigorous denials of nepotism.
The scandal has been especially damaging because it was the culmination of several other incidents.
These ranged from sex tourism revelations about Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand to accusations of racism levelled at Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and a bitter court battle against former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
The turbulence has given renewed hope to the battered opposition Socialists, whose own internal squabbling appeared to have left them with little chance of mounting an effective challenge in the 2012 presidential election.
"Something has changed in the country," Jean-Marc Ayrault, a senior Socialist deputy said. "The air has changed. The thread between this president and the French people has broken."
"The myth of an invincible Sarkozy in 2012 has fallen. He has become beatable," he said.
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