Carla Kills President's Appeal Increasingly Unpopular Sarkozy 'Serious' About Bruni
French President Nicolas Sarkozy may have been hoping to highlight his political achievements since taking office when he held a press conference on Tuesday, but all anyone was really interested in was when he was planning to tie the knot with his girlfriend, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni.
Sarkozy's romance may well lead him down the aisle for the third time, but the constant coverage of his love life seems to have ended the honeymoon between the new president and the French voters.
A survey in the leftwing daily Libération on Monday showed that 63 percent of those asked said Sarkozy was showing off his private life too much, and other polls have shown his popularity plummeting in the last month since his relationship hit the headlines. One CSA poll published on Sunday found that his approval rating had fallen by seven points since December.
On Tuesday Sarkozy addressed 500 journalists from almost 40 countries in his first big press conference since winning the presidential elections in May. He spoke about immigration, reduced spending power, the 35-hour week and other issues that affect French people. But the question that eclipsed all the others was the one about his relationship with the 39-year-old woman he met just a few months after his divorce from his second wife Cecilia.
Since their first public appearance together in December, when they visited Disneyland near Paris, the French glossy magazines have run multiple picture spreads of the couple on holiday in Egypt and Jordan. Speculation that a wedding was on its way was fuelled by a report in Journal du Dimanche (JDD) on Sunday that the couple would wed on Feb. 9. The fact that the newspaper is owned by a businessman with links to the president only increased the report's credibility.
At Tuesday's press conference in the Elysee Palace, Sarkozy admitted he was serious about Bruni but wouldnt confirm a date. "It's serious. It isnt the JDD which will fix the date," he said, adding: "There is a strong chance you will learn about it when it's already happened."
And the president said he wanted to break the long tradition of French leaders keeping their love lives secret. "Everybody knew about it and nobody talked about it," he said alluding to former presidents' extramarital affairs. "Carla and I have decided not to lie," he said, adding: "I don't allow myself to judge (my predecessors), everyone must live as they see fit."
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