Sarkozy and the rich

Daha evvel yazdıklarımı kanıtlayan bir haber. Gerçi zaten herkes biliyordu. Sarkozy seçildikten hemen sonra soluğu zengin bir arkadaşının yatında aldı. Bu mutsuz sokak çocukları klasiği herhalde. :-)Kötü bir çocukluk geçiriyorsun, bütün hırslı politikacılar bir şekilde zaten kötü bir çocukluk geçirmişlerdir, sonra politikaya atılıyorsun ve politikaya sen yön vermiyorsun, sadece kendini konjünktüre doğru yönlendiriyorsun. Stil bu.

Sarkozy flirtation with rich leaves French unmoved
Fri May 11, 2007 1:37PM EDT
By Kerstin Gehmlich

PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean holiday on a luxurious private yacht marks a departure from the unwritten French rule that you should be discreet about money and wealth, but voters do not seem to mind.

Barely 24 hours after being elected president on Sunday, Sarkozy and his family took a private jet to Malta for a break aboard the 70-metre (230-foot) yacht of a billionaire friend, which media said would cost some 200,000 euros ($269,500) a week to hire.

"It's the first time that someone who has only just been elected is associating himself so openly with the rich," said historian Odon Vallet.

Sarkozy has defended his trip and said he deserved a holiday. Vallet said the trip was a clumsy choice for a leader who will have to defend the need to cut public debt.

"If I was him, I would have gone to a small inn in rural France and would have sent my wife to pay a visit to a pensioners' home," he said.

Left-wing opposition leaders said Sarkozy's stay on media mogul Vincent Bollore's yacht was ironic, given his pledges to do more for poor workers.

However, voters seemed unconcerned. Fifty-eight percent said they did not think his holiday was shocking, according to an OpinionWay survey for Le Figaro daily published on Friday.

Sarkozy valued his personal fortune at more than 2 million euros, thanks mainly to life insurance contracts, in a declaration on Friday to the constitutional council.

The 52-year-old right-winger would not be the first French leader to develop a taste for the luxurious life.

MODEST PRESIDENCY

President Jacques Chirac, who will officially hand over to Sarkozy next Wednesday, campaigned on the promise of wanting to be a modest president before coming to power 12 years ago.

Once he was in the Elysee Palace, however, his office spent some 250,000 euros ($336,900) a year on fine wines alone, Capital magazine said, noting Chirac hired an extra 145 people.

Chirac's wife Bernadette alone had 21 staff, including six secretaries and two personal drivers, it said.

Upon leaving office, Chirac will benefit from a 37,000 euro per month pension from his various public posts and move into a luxurious apartment that belongs to the family of assassinated Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, media said. The state will pay for an office for the former head of state.

Analysts said the luxury displayed by a president in office did not stir much concern in France.

"There are two different issues. One is the problem of personal links between politicians and business," said sociologist Damien De Blic.

"The other concerns the luxury expenses of the presidency, which are less criticized because the president is expected to display prestige...and to defend the image of France."