TIMES ONLINE – BLOG: The term banana republic has been used by a couple of French friends in reaction to the news from Paris this week. They were referring to the high-handed way that France's ruler and his caste have been behaving in two or three current matters.The latest involves an astonishing act of nepotism by Nicolas Sarkozy. His barons are about to elevate Jean Sarkozy, the President's 23-year-old, undergraduate son, to a powerful and prized executive post. Sarkozy rules, okay >>> Charles Bremner | Sunday, October 11, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: President Sarkozy complained today that his son Jean was being hounded unjustly as controversy continued to rage over the appointment of the 23-year-old student as head of France's premium business district.
Mr Sarkozy blamed the media and opponents for persecuting Jean over his imminent appointment as chairman of Epad, the development agency that administers La Défense, the business quarter on the western edge of Paris.
"It is never right for someone to be thrown to the wolves without reason," he said. His first comment on "the Prince Jean affair" came after he made a speech in praise of France's egalitarian tradition.
Napoleon Bonaparte had rendered France a great service in "ending the privilege of birth", the President told a group of sixth-formers. "That means that what counts in success in France is not being well-born, it is to have worked hard and proved by one's studies and worth."
The pupils and dignitaries struggled to stay solemn. France has been riveted for days by the sudden ascent of the President's second son, who is repeating his second year of undergraduate law studies. >>> Charles Bremner | Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Jean Sarkozy partout d’avenir >>>
LE TEMPS: Jean Sarkozy à la tête du plus grand quartier d’affaires d’Europe? L’annonce d’une probable accession, à 23 ans, du fils du président français à la direction d’un organisme au chiffre d’affaire d’un milliard d’euros, provoque un tollé qui ne cesse de s’amplifier. Le président s’est indigné mardi que son fils soit jeté «en pâture».
L’arrivée possible de Jean Sarkozy à la tête de la Défense, le grand quartier d’affaires à l’ouest de Paris, n’en finit pas de susciter remous et sarcasmes. Dans les médias étrangers, c’est le terme de népotisme qui revient le plus souvent. Un journaliste du Times n’hésite pas à parler de «république bananière». Et déjà la télévision chinoise CCTV ironise sur ce «petit Sarkozy» et se demande dans un reportage repéré par Rue89 «comment un homme aussi jeune qui n’a même pas fini ses études peut diriger un organisme aussi important?» >>> Simon Pittet | Mardi 13 Octobre 2009
LE TEMPS: Accusations de népotisme contre Nicolas Sarkozy : Le fils cadet du président proposé à la tête du plus grand quartier d’affaires du pays >>> AFP | Mardi 13 Octobre 2009
