TIMES ONLINE: Brains and political talent are no longer enough to land a job in the French Cabinet. Under President Sarkozy, members are also expected to cut a trim figure.
Eager to be surrounded by fit-looking people, “Super Sarko” told a would-be minister to lose weight and change his hairstyle if he wanted to be considered for a job, insiders have reported.
Mr Sarkozy acquired his passion for thinness after meeting Carla Bruni, his supermodel future wife, and her fitness coach in late 2007. Living off cottage cheese, fruit compote and mineral water, Mr Sarkozy has lost about 15lb (7kg) over the past year. His resolve is said widely to have been spurred by the election of the tall and feline President Obama.
“Nicolas Sarkozy is very attentive to the physique of his ministers. They have to show an example, keep in shape,” an Élysée Palace aide told Le Point news magazine this summer. Yesterday Le Parisien noted a spectacular weight loss by several ministers. “You would think that the Élysée Palace has launched a real policy of political correctness for the figure,” it said.
Gérard Apfeldorfer, a Paris psychiatrist specialising in nutrition, told The Times: “I know that Sarkozy is putting pressure on his ministers to have a flat stomach. He is a prisoner of the stereotypes of our age, to the point of imposing it on the others,” he said. >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Wednesday, October 07, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni effect: French ministers vie to keep up with Sarkozy's diet: French ministers are succumbing to the "Carla Bruni effect", vying to keep up with Nicolas Sarkozy's weight loss programme following reports that one MP was told to shed pounds if he wanted a top job. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Tuesday, October 06, 2009
