Is Sarkozy losing his grip? (News Feature)

Paris - The sharks who have been circling French President Nicolas Sarkozy since the start of his rule are stirring: they can smell blood in the water. A series of missteps, unpopular proposals and high-profile controversies involving a minister's book about sex tourism and the candidacy of Sarkozy's inexperienced 23-year-old son for an influential post have left the tough-talking president vulnerable. The habitually aggressive and confident 54-year-old Sarkozy made himself a target of criticism from the start because of his blunt manner, his sharp temper, his autocratic style of governing and his unabashed love of luxury and status. Intelligent and highly articulate, Sarkozy usually gave at least as good as he got. And he was aided by an opposition weakened by internal battles and a lack of strong leadership. But now, in the middle of his five-year term, he is faced with something new: members of his own conservative faction, long silent because of Sarkozy's apparent invulnerability, are beginning to join the critics. The left-wing daily Liberation, under the front-page headline 'The Right: Mutiny,' published a list of 12 putative allies of the president who have recently attacked his proposals and actions. Regarding the candidacy of Sarkozy's son Jean to head EPAD, the public body managing Europe's largest business district La Defense, Sports Minister Rama Yade complained that it could be seen as 'a divide between the elite... and the little people.' As the controversy over young Sarkozy's candidacy raged, other conservative politicians also expressed their disapproval, with some calling it a 'blunder.' But this was only the latest of a number of contentious issues. Parliamentarian Lionnel Luca, a member of Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party, said that the recent controversy surrounding Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand - who in 2005 published a book describing his visits to male brothels in Thailand - left 'a part of the public traumatized.' He criticized Sarkozy's support of Mitterand, calling it 'an excess' inspired by the ideals of the May 1968 student rebellion. Conservative former prime minister Alain Juppe slammed Sarkozy's plan to suppress a local business tax vital to the finances of city halls. 'It is telling everyone to go to hell,' Juppe said. The head of the UMP faction in the Senate, Gerard Longuet, criticized the president's proposal for a carbon tax, while Charles de Courson, a member of the UMP-allied centrist New Centre party, slammed the growing public deficit, which will reach about 8.5 per cent of GDP this year. Perhaps more ominous, the disenchantment of Sarkozy's own electorate with his actions is also growing. According to a poll published Friday in the daily Le Parisien, nearly two out of three French adults oppose Jean Sarkozy's candidacy for EPAD. More significantly, more than half of right-wing voters said they were against it, while only a third approved it. In addition, 62 per cent of conservatives responding in the poll said they disapproved of Sarkozy's support of Culture Minister Mitterand. As a result, the mood in the Elysee Palace appears to be uncharacteristically dark. 'The ambience in the palace is stifling,' a highly placed UMP official told Liberation. 'The president is in a foul temper. The people there are hugging the walls.' As a sign of Sarkozy's growing unease, he gave a lengthy interview to what many people consider his house organ, the daily Le Figaro, in which he addressed virtually every issue currently preoccupying him. As expected, he came out in support of his son, charging that critics were using young Sarkozy to get at the him, and claiming that age had little to do with competence. Sarkozy also repeated his support of Mitterand and defended all of his actions and those of his government. In the interview, which was published Friday, Sarkozy was also asked about his intentions to run for a second term in 2012. 'This issue will be raised during the course of the year 2011, not before,' he replied. He could be mistaken. Important regional elections are to be held in the spring of next year, and current polls show the conservatives with a comfortable lead. But public opinion may be changing. Unless Sarkozy acts to reassure his political allies and his electorate, today's mutiny could turn into a full-blown rebellion. And there are a number of young sharks waiting for him to fall.