THE GUARDIAN: Nicolas Sarkozy took office in May 2007 promising to transform France and restore its status as a great nation. Brash, confident and now married to one of the most glamorous woman [sic] in Europe, his presidency has not lacked drama. But approval ratings have plummeted, unemployment is rising and public sector workers are in revolt. Has Sarko really delivered?
A strange and somewhat surreal party took place last week on the Champs Elysées, on the pavement outside Le Fouquet's restaurant. Dressed in overcoats to ward off the unseasonal cold, the guests whistled loudly, held aloft a two-tier cake and sang a deliberately discordant rendition of "joyeux anniversaire".
Fond as he is of events held in his honour, Nicolas Sarkozy would not have enjoyed this one. The placards gave it away, particularly the one that read: "Sarkozy: a pandemic all by himself".
President Sarkozy has chosen not to mark the second anniversary of his arrival at the Elysée Palace. And it is not hard to see why. His approval ratings, once riding high at more than 60%, have slumped to the low 30s. One poll released last week suggested that 63% of the population were disappointed with his first 24 months. The number of people who approve of his social policies stands at a dismal 36%.
The political facts on the ground are incontestable: the rapidly rising unemployment rate reached 8.6% in February and among the young the figure is a demoralising 21%; public sector strikes are commonplace and millions have turned out in recent months to protest against the government.
Each week a new constituency makes its grievances known: last week it was prisons, the week before hospitals. Universities have been paralysed for months by the biggest strike action in the history of the French Academy.
Then there are the private sector workers who, faced with mass job cuts and meagre redundancy payouts, kidnap their bosses in the hope of a better deal. "Bossnapping" may yet come to be recognised as the signature protest of the Sarkozy years. >>> Lizzy Davies in Paris | Sunday, May 10, 2009
