Sarkozy’s son retreats – but media laud a rising star

The seemingly irrepressible rise of Jean Sarkozy, son of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been checked for the time being. In a blow that will be embarrassing to his father, the 23-year-old undergraduate - a child from Nicolas's first marriage - went on French TV last night to announce that he was withdrawing from the race to become the leader of a €110m quango.
 
The hugely ambitious Sarkozy Jr had been hoping to head up Epad, the body that runs La Defense, the business park on the outskirts of Paris. It lies in the Hauts-de-Seine departement, which is the Sarkozy family's political powerbase - Nicolas Sarkozy was mayor of Neuilly and Jean is a regional councillor - and the president himself had chaired the authority until his national victory in 2007.
 
But last night Jean broke the news on state TV channel France 2 that he would not be putting himself forward for the position of head of Epad, although he would instead stand for election to the agency's board. He acknowledged the outrage at what many in France saw as unadulterated nepotism, saying: "A lot of it was excessive, a lot of it true," adding that he did not want "a victory stained by a soupcon of favouritism".
 
He went on to claim that he had been the victim of a "campaign of manipulation and disinformation", and that he had spoken to his father before making the decision, but not in his official capacity. "Did I talk to the president? No. Did I speak to my father? Yes."
 
The scandal over the elevation of a young man with no relevant work experience to such a key post had threatened to overwhelm the president, and could still be an issue in 2012 when Nicolas Sarkozy seeks re-election. The president had made the appointment of his son to the Epad position a priority, and had instructed his ministers to defend the decision.
 
Jean Sarkozy could however find a lasting consolation from the reaction to his performance last night. La Telegramme de Brest called it a "strategic retreat", and pronounced that "a star was born". Le Figaro noted approvingly that Jean "had ended the controversy by laying dormant his political ambition", while Le Progres de Lyon saw that "in five minutes, Jean Sarkozy was an obedient son, a devoted representative, a wounded man".
 
In him, the paper saw "his father, but blonder, younger and calmer". Whether these qualities will help or hinder Jean's career remains to be seen. ·