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French weekly magazines review

There is an overdose of President Nicolas Sarkozy in this week's magazines in the wake of explosive revelations linking him to graft, illegal campaign finance, influence-peddling and sleaze.

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Le Nouvel Observateur has an inventory of issues it claims are giving the president goose bumps: Karachi, Bettencourt, Bourgi and Takieddine and the so-called “fadettes” scandal, which saw the police spying on journalists' mobile phones as they tried to identify a deep throat.

The magazine takes up the confession by Sarkozy’s ex-African affairs afive African leaders to Paris. Le Nouvel Observateur says it was simply a smokescreen aimed at covering up other scandals even more embarrassing to the Elysée.

The left-leaning weekly also examines fresh revelations implicating two of Sarkozy’s friends in the Karachi affair. It comments that they are causing a cataclysm in ruling party circles, as the scandals around the head of state pile up.

Le Nouvel Observateur says it’s a hectic season for “damned” judges who have come out swinging, after years of redundancy, to become Sarkozy’s worst nightmare. Le Canard Enchaîné as well. The satirical weekly says prosecutors are investigating how Sarkozy’s friends plotted and organised espionage on Le Monde, the newspaper which caused the downfall of former budget minister Eric Woerth over his role in the Bettencourt affair.

The weekly tells how Interior Minister Claude Guéant and the Elysée have agreed to sacrifice national police chief Frédéric Péchnard, as heads are bound to roll after a judicial investigation.

Marianne says the scandals are ruining the end of Sarkozy’s reign. The paper claims that allegations by whistleblower Robert Bourgi about personally delivering millions of dollars of African gifts to then-president Jacques Chirac and his then chief of staff Dominic de Villepin, actually help the Elysée.

Not just because they target Chirac and Sarkozy’s arch-rival de Villepin but because they offer some breathing space to Guéant and Alexandre Djouhri, a man with an allegedly chequered past who rose from rags to riches and became one of Guéant’s advisers.

The times of covert funding of political parties are over as the channels of international finance are subjected to intense scrutiny. The magazine holds that the endless scandals and Sarkozy’s egocentric personality have forced grassroot voters to turn their backs on him. Marianne says he is persona non grata in Gandrange where he failed to honor a pledge made in 2008 to block the closure of the Arcelor Mittal steel plant. .

Chirac and Mitterrand, it says, redeemed their presidencies through power-sharing, something Sarkozy can’t do.

L’Express believes Sarkozy’s latest expedition in Libya, his gestures towards the military and moves to appease the judiciary have all failed to make any impact and his image remains as negative as ever.

L’Express wonders if Nicolas Sarkozy hasn’t already lost the 2012 presidential elections. The magazine put that question to three pollsters. Stephane Rozès of the advisory research group CAP says the French blame Sarkozy for bringing the president’s office into disrepute.

For Brice Tenturier of Ipsos his popularity started tumbling eight months after he came to office and has never recovered since. Jérome Fourquet of Ifop explains that the Elysée is pinning its hopes on a last-minute makeover for the president due to his experience. He, however, says Sarkozy's appeal to voters will depend instead on his record in battling rising unemployment, the debt burden and managing the euro crisis.

Le Point scrutinises Socialist presidential hopeful François Hollande as he emerges as the polls favourite to win the 2012 elections. The right-wing magazine tips Hollande as the most credible politician to tackle the economic crisis.

Le Point bases its argument on an Ipsos tracking poll which gives Hollande a 48 to 28 per cent lead over Sarkozy in handling the economy. Le Point notes that the economic crisis has sapped the popularity of several ruling party politicians to the advantage of opposition figures. Martine Aubry also beats Sarkozy by 42 to 35 per cent, according to the tracking poll.

There’s also an interesting article in Le Point about China buying up everything in Europe. The paper says China’s appetite has no limits as Beijing’s central bank reserves exceed 2,200 billion euros.

In a sign of the times China has just splashed out 3.3 billion euros to buy the port of Piraeus in bankrupt Greece. Le Point says the Chinese are on a spending spree, grabbing everything from companies and technologies to castles and real estate property all over France.

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