Related News

HomeWorld

Sarkozy's popularity rises but remains low

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy's lacklustre popularity rating crept up four points to 35 percent in May when his main rival for the 2012 election was knocked out of the race by sexual assault charges, a poll showed yesterday.
The BVA survey found that 35 percent of those surveyed held a "good opinion" of Sarkozy's presidency, up from 31 percent in April, although he still faces a tough re-election battle against a resurgent left.

It was the centre-right president's best showing in a BVA poll since May 2010, when he held a 36 percent positive rating.

Sarkozy's ratings have been on a downward trend since late 2009 -- dropping below 30 percent in some surveys by other pollsters -- but BVA said public opinion seemed to have been affected by the May 14 arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges that he tried to rape a New York hotel maid.

The sudden downfall of the former head of the International Monetary Fund and former French finance minister, who had been regarded as the frontrunner to win the presidency for the left in 2012, has revived Sarkozy's chances as the Socialist Party grapples to replace its former champion.

The BVA poll showed that 63 percent of respondents still want to see a Socialist win the 2012 election.

"The road is long to recapture the confidence of the majority of French, 62 percent of whom still have a 'bad opinion' of Sarkozy as president," BVA said.

Last week, a different BVA poll found that Sarkozy could be beaten by either of the two new favourites to run for the Socialists, Francois Hollande and Martine Aubry.

Tuesday's poll also showed a rise in voter support for far-right leader Marine Le Pen. It showed 23 percent of those surveyed would vote for her in 2012, up from 17 percent in a December poll.

BVA interviewed 984 people by telephone on May 27 and 28.

 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend