By M&C People May 18, 2008, 13:46 GMT
France's president Nicolas Sarkozy has a very handsome son who is making waves in his home country, and catching the eye of others.
Jean Sarkozy, eldest son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, arrives at Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Jean is one of two sons from Sarkozy's first marriage. EPA/HORACIO VILLALOBOS
Son Jean Sarkozy is trying to help his father's unpopular reform initiatives gain in favor, and has staged some plays in Paris to demonstrate the benefits of a more free market and entrepreneurial France versus the current welfare state that fosters reliance on civil servant jobs, long vacations, early retirement and immigrant handouts.
The Times Online detailed the doings of the handsome Hungarian, French, Greek (father's side) and half Italian son of Sarkozy’s first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli. Many say he resembles a Greek God.
Jean is also an amateur actor with what the Times Online categorizes as "having his father’s political ambition.
The Times claims that Jean, "a town councillor in Neuilly, the affluent Parisian suburb in which he was born, staged his own piece of political theatre."
It was a case of artistic PR to foster a more positive reception to the drastic changes his father wants to implement in France.
“The idea is to show young people that you can get involved in politics,” said Jean, 21, telling the Times Online, referring to resistant youths. “It irritates me that when you are young it’s always easier to carry the banner of the left or the extreme left. But it is possible for young people to have other convictions.”
Unlike American college students who traditionally are set against the idea of dead end civil servantry or vocations with no incentive to succeed, the French students prefer to defend the status quo so they might have cradle to the grave guarantees their parents and grandparents have enjoyed all footed by the state. Sarkozy's reforms strive to "streamline the state, reduce budget deficits and make the country more competitive," writes the Times Online.
The Times notes that despite the protests, Sarkozy will not back down and will "cut 22,900 civil service and teaching jobs this year and 35,000 next year."
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