(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in France are growing disappointed with Nicolas Sarkozy, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 62 per cent of respondents have no confidence in their president, up three points since June.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in France are growing disappointed with Nicolas Sarkozy, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 62 per cent of respondents have no confidence in their president, up three points since June.
The French are also increasingly condemning the performance of Prime Minister François Fillon, with 54 per cent of respondents expressing no confidence in him, up five points in a month.
In May 2007, Sarkozy, candidate for the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and former interior minister, won the presidential run-off with 53.06 per cent of the vote. Sarkozy appointed Fillon—who had been his adviser and presidential campaign leader—as prime minister.
On Jun. 24, thousands of French workers took to the streets to protest against a government proposal to reform the pension system, which would entail raising the retirement age to 62.
Earlier this month, Sarkozy launched an anti-crime campaign and a crackdown on illegal immigration by introducing measures to revoke the French citizenship of immigrants who endanger the lives of police officers, and making it easier to deport people who are in France illegally. The measures target mainly the Roma. The president has explicitly defined "Gipsy camps" as a source of prostitution, trafficking, and child exploitation.
Martine Aubry, leader of the Socialist Party (PS), commented on the measures and their accompanying media campaign, saying they harm "France and its values by selective laws that are as iniquitous as they are unconstitutional," and adding, "We will not let foreigners be stigmatized, nor French people of immigrant descent, nor travellers, as the president of the republic and his majority have shamefully done."
Polling Data
Do you have confidence in French president Nicolas Sarkozy to face the country’s problems?
|
|
Jul. 2010
|
Jun. 2010
|
May 2010
|
Apr. 2010
|
|
Confidence
|
32%
|
34%
|
37%
|
34%
|
|
No confidence
|
62%
|
59%
|
58%
|
59%
|
Do you have confidence in French prime minister François Fillon to face the country’s problems?
|
|
Jul. 2010
|
Jun. 2010
|
May 2010
|
Apr. 2010
|
|
Confidence
|
40%
|
42%
|
44%
|
38%
|
|
No confidence
|
54%
|
49%
|
51%
|
55%
|
Source: CSA / Le Parisien
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,002 French adults, conducted on Jul. 7 and Jul. 8, 2010. No margin of error was provided.
