Sarkozy ratings hit new low as rivals eye 2012

Nicolas Sarkozy's approval ratings took a fresh blow with a new survey showing his popularity has reached a record low weeks after disastrous regional elections.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s approval ratings took a fresh blow on Sunday with a new survey showing his popularity has reached a record low weeks after disastrous regional elections.

The French leader’s approval rating dropped seven points to 31 percent in the first week of April,a Metro-Krief Group survey carried out by OpinionWay showed. It had previously not fallen below 38 percent.

The approval rating for Prime Minister Francois Fillon also hit a new low,down eight points to 39 percent,the poll showed,with 52 percent of participants saying they were dissatisfied with his performance.

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A survey by TNS Sofres for Le Figaro Magazine published on March 31 had shown Sarkozy’s approval rating had dropped below 30 per cent for the first time,hitting 28 per cent as the leader looked increasingly out of touch with voters.

Both polls come after Sarkozy’s centre-right UMP party won control of just one out of 22 mainland regions in elections in March.

High unemployment,a rapidly growing debt mountain and worries about security and immigration have chipped away at confidence in Sarkozy,while the opposition Socialists are gaining hope ahead of the next presidential election in 2012.

French Socialist member of parliament Pierre Moscovici told Europe 1 on Sunday there was an atmosphere of “the end of a reign” with a willingness “to deprive the president of the republic of credibility”.

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Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin,one of Sarkozy’s fiercest critics within his own conservative camp,last month announced he would create a new centre-right party to challenge Sarkozy in 2012.

Alain Juppe,mayor of Bordeaux and also a former French prime minister,told Le Monde newspaper this weekend he too was ready to stand for election as president in two years.

While Sarkozy remained “the natural candidate for the right in 2012”,Juppe said he “will consider competing” if the president decides not to seek a second term in office.

However,Fillon was considered the best candidate for the right in 2012 if Sarkozy did not stand,according to the OpinionWay poll,with 38 percent. Twenty-three percent of participants said Villepin,while 20 per cent favoured Juppe.

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Still,Sarkozy’s approval ratings have not yet hit the lows registered by this two predecessors. Jacques Chirac’s rating fell to 27 per cent on three separate occasions during his 12 years in power,while Francois Mitterrand has the all time record low of 22 per cent.

OpinionWay surveyed 1,011 people aged 18 and over by phone between April 1 and April 7. The survey has a margin of error of two to three points per 1,000 participants.