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Loved-up French President Sarkozy takes a dip (in the polls)
Last updated at 00:52am on 08.01.08His whirlwind romance with a model may have made Nicolas Sarkozy very happy. But it seems to have done little for the French president's popularity with the voters.
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Gut-ted: Nicolas Sarkozy frolicking in the sea with future wife Carla Bruni while polls slump
Polls suggest they have been turned off by pictures of 52-year-old Sarkozy on holiday in Egypt with 40-year-old Carla Bruni, whose previous lovers include Sir Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.
Photos showed a paunchy looking president in swimming trunks and designer sunglasses holding hands with his swimsuit-clad Italian fiancee as they walked in the sea at Sharm el Sheik on a Christmas break.
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Ab flab: Sarkozy shows his paunch as he and Bruni stroll down the beach of an Egyptian resort
The pictures were published 24 hours after revelations that the couple plan to marry on February 9 - only three months after they met at a party in Paris and four months after the president divorced his wife Cecilia.
Opinion polls show that only 48 per cent of French voters say they trust Sarkozy - 10 per cent down on six months ago.
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Plump slump: Sarkozy has been accused of losing credibility over his romance
Pundits have blamed the fall partly on France's flagging economy and partly on the fact their leader seems more focused on his love affair than he is on running the country.
Political journalist Jean-Pierre Berges said: "The public were at best ambivalent when he was first pictured with Miss Bruni and there was an underlying attitude that he was acting almost indecently quickly after his divorce.
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FIrst lady to be: Carla with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on holiday in Jordan
"While consumer confidence and public morale are low, the president appears to be more interested in swanning around the world with a model than managing important affairs of state."
Sarkozy has told journalists he 'couldn't care less' what they think.
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Sarkozy has been playing happy families of his own with girlfriend Carla Bruni and her son, Aurelien Enthoven, from a previous relationship. Here they are pictured in the ancient Nabatean city of Petra on a private visit to the country
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The marriage will solve a diplomatic headache because Mr Sarkozy was set to be the first ever French head of state to visit Britain without a wife in March
Bride-to-be: Carla Bruni, modelling swimwear in 1991
Reader views (3)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
That's what she looked like 16 years ago? Bet she looks like an old bat now.
- Will, London
I think he's enjoying the trappings of fame more than the work he is supposed to be doing for the country. Wasn't it Bruni who had the affair with Jagger? What does it say about her, or indeed about a man who is President and decides after 28 days to propose to a model...and why did his wife leave him after only a few months into his presidency, it's all tres strange...
- Maria, London
Love it! Love it! Love it! So unconventional and so refreshing at the same time. I'm a great fan of these two people in the world. I love him!
- Tika, Milan, Italy
