FRANCE: President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing the biggest drop in popularity since his election

Record ID: 731348

  • Title: FRANCE: President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing the biggest drop in popularity since his election
  • Date: 13th February 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS FREDERIC DABI FROM IPSOS OPINION POLL INSTITUTE WALKING INTO OFFICE AND SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (French) FREDERIC DABI, IPSOS OPINION POLL INSTITUTE, SAYING: "It's a loss of coherence, there is a kind of gap between the presidential actions and what he had promised as a candidate. That explains the great disappointment and the criticisms towards the president. The criticism isn't so much about his private life, we carried out some polls when he divorced from Cecilia Sarkozy and when his relationship with Carla Bruni was made public, and we saw that the French were saying that this was a private affair which wasn't of anyone else's concern. What was disturbing and shocking was the display of this private life and it's about this gap between the display of his private life and the problems of the French people." VARIOUS OF IPSOS POLL SPREADSHEET (SOUNDBITE) (French) FREDERIC DABI, IPSOS OPINION POLL INSTITUTE, SAYING: "With the upcoming municipal elections, the right are very likely to lose many towns, and that will not improve the president's ratings." PARIS COMMUTERS COMING OUT OF PARIS METRO COUPLE TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) AGATHE ROUSSET, PARISIAN, SAYING: "I think that his mandate is very recent. He made promises but not over a few months so we have to give him more time to succeed." (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN-PATRICK, WORKER IN PARIS, SAYING: "I think the honeymoon period is over, now he has to embrace the difficult topics and that's why his popularity is going down." COUPLE TALKING IN THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANAIS SOYEZ, STUDENT, SAYING: "The Carla Bruni story didn't really help him, it's becoming too showbiz-like." VARIOUS OF PARIS SCENE WITH FOUNTAIN
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6P61BTKBMBS0PT58LLGJZBMLV
  • Story Text: Nicolas Sarkozy's approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he was elected president of France nine months ago, two opinion polls showed on Monday (February 11).
    A monthly IPSOS poll for weekly Le Point said support for Sarkozy had fallen 10 points to 39 percent in February, and a CSA poll for daily Le Parisien and i>Tele television said it had fallen six points in a month to 42 percent.
    The surveys did not provide details on respondents' reasons for their answers but previous polls have pinpointed disapproval of his public romance with former model Carla Bruni, whom he married on Feb. 2, and anger over the cost of living as causes.

    "It's a loss of coherence, there is a kind of gap between the presidential actions and what he had promised as a candidate. That explains the great disappointment and the criticisms towards the president. The criticism isn't so much about his private life, we carried out some polls when he divorced from Cecilia Sarkozy and when his relationship with Carla Bruni was made public, and we saw that the French were saying that this was a private affair which wasn't of anyone else's concern. What was disturbing and shocking was the display of this private life and it's about this gap between the display of his private life and the problems of the French people,"
    Frederic Dabi from IPSOS polling institute told Reuters on Tuesday (February 12).
    The French are due to to elect new mayors across France in March. This unpopularity could cost the right many town halls, Dabi predicted.

    "With the upcoming municipal elections, the right are very likely to lose many towns, and that will not improve the president's ratings,"
    he said.
    The IPSOS poll of 944 people carried out on Feb. 8 and 9 said Sarkozy's approval rating had fallen from 49 percent a month earlier. The number of respondents who disapproved of Sarkozy rose 9 percentage points to 58 percent from 49 percent.
    In contrast, the approval rating of Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who has been relatively low-key in his public statements while Sarkozy has taken centre stage, continued to improve. It rose to 52 percent in February from 45 percent in January.
    The CSA poll of 1,004 people, conducted on Feb. 6 and 7, also found Fillon's popularity had grown, rising 5 points to 47 percent, while the number of respondents who did not trust Sarkozy had increased to 52 percent from 45 percent.

    "I think that his mandate is very recent. He made promises but not over a few months so we have to give him more time to succeed," said parisian Agathe Rousset.

    "I think the honeymoon period is over, now he has to embrace the difficult topics and that's why his popularity is going down," said Jean-Patrick who works in Paris.

    "The Carla Bruni story didn't really help him, it's becoming too showbiz-like," said student Anaïs Soyez.
    In both polls, Sarkozy's approval rating was the lowest since he won France's presidential election in May.
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