Paris: President Nicolas Sarkozy lamented
on Tuesday that his son had been "thrown to the wolves" after the
23-year-old`s imminent appointment to manage France`s top
business district whipped up a storm.
News that law student Jean Sarkozy is tipped to become
chairman of the EPAD agency overseeing development in the
Paris business area La Defence has drawn howls of protest and
much derision.
France`s main opposition Socialist Party formally asked
the president "to abandon this disastrous project that has
already made France a laughing stock among democracies."
But in his first public comments about the row, Sarkozy
made clear he considered the outcry to be part of a media
campaign unfairly targeting his son.
"It is never right for someone to be thrown to the
wolves, without reason and in an excessive manner," Sarkozy
told journalists.
The latest row comes days after a scandal threatened to
engulf Sarkozy`s culture minister, Frederic Mitterrand, who
was forced to defend himself on television over a 2005 novel
describing his experiences as a sex tourist.
Jean Sarkozy`s appointment, which is all but certain to
be approved by the EPAD board in December, would see him
replace the minister for economic recovery, Patrick Devedjian,
who is retiring.
Dubbed "Prince Jean" by the press, Sarkozy junior has
risen from a little-known Sorbonne University student to a
major player in his father`s former fiefdom in fewer than two
years.
Bureau Report
