Carla Bruni `accused of nepotism`

London: France`s glamorous First Lady Carla Bruni, often accused of meddling in the state`s affairs, has now landed into a "nepotism" controversy, after her son`s godfather was recently given a top government job.

Francois Baudot, a 60-year-old former interior designer friend of Bruni`s for 15 years, has been appointed as France`s new Inspector General of Cultural Affairs despite the government appointment`s commission initially deciding that he was not suitable for the job, the `Le Point` reported. But, then the commission changed its mind after its members were informed that President Nicolas Sarkozy, his Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand all backed Baudot for the 4,500 pounds-a-month new post, according to the leading French news magazine. However, the magazine has also admitted that Baudot -- a former government commissioner for France`s museums and monuments -- had a "pretty good CV for the new job", British newspaper `The Daily Telegraph` reported. Last month, a Reader`s Digest poll found 48 per cent of people in France believed the former supermodel was "very influential" in her husband`s policy-making. And two months before that Bruni was described by France`s leading society magazine `Point de Vue` as the new Marie-Antionette, who had bewitched President Sarkozy with her socialist views. Some leading members of Sarkozy`s own UMP party were reported to have told the President that he was "under his wife`s thumb" and causing him a catalogue of problems. One MP even told the `l`Express` news magazine in October: "She is responsible for most of the head of state`s woes." PTI