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Sarkozy's 'Scandalous' Yacht Trip

 

POSTED: 0214 GMT (1014 HKT), May 9, 2007

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/09/france.sarkozy.ap/index.html

 

PARIS, France (AP) -- Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president-elect, was

criticized by political enemies Wednesday after refusing to apologize

for a post-election luxury yacht trip amid violent protests over the

election result.

 

Sarkozy whisked his wife and son off for a tour around Malta a day

after his election Sunday. However, even before dropping anchor as

expected by Wednesday evening, he defended his mini-vacation aboard

the 60-meter (nearly 200-foot) yacht on loan from billionaire investor

Vincent Bollore as a reasonable right.

 

" I have no intention of apologizing, " he said by telephone to Europe-1

radio, adding that he had a full week before taking on " the supreme

responsibilities of president of the Republic in as calm a mood as

possible.

 

" I'm taking two and a half days. I don't think anyone can argue with

that. "

 

Outgoing President Jacques Chirac is to turn over power to Sarkozy on

May 16 after 12 years in office. Chirac held his final Cabinet meeting

Wednesday.

 

Former Socialist Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou called Sarkozy's

escapade " scandalous " and " indecent. "

 

" All this money when he pretends to be the ... president of all French

[people], " she said on the TV station iTele. Such an " ostentatious "

display was " shocking to the great masses of French who have a hard

time making ends meet. "

 

The conservative Sarkozy was elected Sunday against Socialist Segolene

Royal with a mandate to rejuvenate France's sluggish economy with a

dose of market-liberating forces, seen as a key to resolving social

ills and bringing France firmly into the era of globalization.

 

Paparazzi have captured images of Sarkozy, 52, on the yacht and

jogging on an island off Malta.

 

Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope asked the left-wing opposition

to end " personal attacks " on Sarkozy, criticized as a man too fond of

money and glitz. The state, he added in an interview on France-2

television, was not paying for the mini-vacation.

 

Sarkozy, former interior minister, served for years as mayor of

Neuilly, a wealthy Paris suburb. The ambitious politician is a friend

of France's top industrialists.

 

Sarkozy defended his billionaire friend Bollore on Europe-1. " It is

not shameful to have worked hard, to have created a big [investment]

group, to have given people jobs, " he said.

 

Former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin also defended Sarkozy's

retreat, saying the president-elect needed to " recharge his batteries "

after a grueling campaign.

 

" Nicolas Sarkozy has the right to three days of happiness with his

family, " Raffarin said on RTL radio. " It's from May 16 that the French

will judge the new president. "

 

The opposition left, along with unions, fear Sarkozy will dismantle

coveted benefits to make the system more flexible, and will favor the

rich over the poor.

 

" We were warned. Mr. Sarkozy never said he would be the president of

the ... poor, " Senator Jean-Luc Melenchon was quoted as saying in the

daily Liberation. " He is the president of the CAC40, " the French stock

market.

 

Meanwhile, the leader of the Workers' Force union warned that Sarkozy

would have a tough time trying to push through a key proposal to

guarantee minimum service during public transport strikes.

 

Sarkozy's victory does not give him " a blank check to apply each of

his promises, " Jean-Clause Mailly told the business daily Les Echos.

 

" We have already let Nicolas Sarkozy know that there is no question of

us negotiating " an accord on minimum service, he said. " Minimum

service in public transport puts into question the right to strike. "

 

Following the election, bands of leftist militants took to the streets

in several cities around France, breaking windows and burning cars.

 

Tuesday night, some 200 cars were burned around France and at least 80

people detained in the third night of post-election violence, Interior

Minister Francois Baroin said on France-Info radio Wednesday. That was

down from 730 cars burned on Sunday night.

 

Vandals broke windows at a local headquarters of Sarkozy's Union for a

Popular Movement party in Villeurbanne, near Lyon in the southeast.

But Baroin insisted the violence was ebbing, and was under control.

 

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

Created: Wednesday, May 09, 2007, at 08:09:21 EDT

Should France's Nicolas Sarkozy apologize for taking a yacht trip amid

post-election unrest?

 

Yes ......... 18% .............. 867 votes

No .......... 82% .............. 3,999 votes

Total: ......................... 4,866 votes

 

 

Created: Sunday, May 06, 2007, at 14:25:14 EDT

Do you think Nicolas Sarkozy will make a good president of France?

 

Yes ......... 74% ............... 12,683 votes

No .......... 26% ............... 4,515 votes

Total: .......................... 17,198 votes

 

World Leaders Congratulate Sarkozy

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/06/france.reax.reut/index.html

 

Profiles:

 

Nicolas Sarkozy

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/04/france.sarkozy.profile/

 

Segolene Royal

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/04/france.royal.profile/