… Jean Sarkozy, who [has] yet to complete a university degree, is all but assured of being elected to the presidency of Epad, the public corporation that runs the La Defense office park, after his candidacy was endorsed by his father’s ruling UMP party.
Epad brings in more than 1 billion euros a year, and has plans to triple the size of La Defense, a cluster of office sky-scrapers to the west of Paris.
“Whatever I say, whatever I do, I’ll be criticised for it,” Jean Sarkozy, who only recently cut his long blond hair into a more respectable serious style, said Monday night in an interview with the Le Parisien newspaper.
On Tuesday, UMP officials rallied to the young Sarkozy’s defence.
“The political scene is made up of people who started very young, very early, without having too many diplomas, and we’re lucky because this acts as a social elevator,” said UMP spokesperson Dominique Paillé.
“Jean is the son of a political genius, so it’s not surprising that he’s precocious,” said UMP regional counsellor Thierry Solère.
“I can tell you that Jean Sarkozy, at 23, might just have more talent than his father did at his age,” UMP official Patrick Balkany said.
Sarcastic endorsements have proliferated online. The twitter feed jeansarkozypartout or “Jean Sarkozy is everywhere” sprung up Monday night, with comments like Florent Latrive’s: “Jean Sarkozy, candidate for L’Académie française”, referring to the French-language council of wise men, or Bertrand Lenotre’s “Jean Sarkozy is chosen as the model for the next bust of Marianne,” an honour already bestowed upon French beauties Catherine Deneuve and Letitia Casta…
October 13th, 2009 at 11:27AM
Maybe Barack should just forward his Nobel.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:06PM
Given the state of the French university system, are we quite sure that not having a degree is quite such a bad thing? It’s the nepotism that rankles, not the absent credential.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:33PM
Americans, living in a country that has produced Jonah Goldberg and William Kristol, probably should not be too quick to gloat about the French.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:47PM
I had the same thought, Colin… And I think he’s at the Sorbonne, which is one of the baddies. I also read he’s had to repeat his second year of law school… JFK, Jr?
October 13th, 2009 at 1:49PM
But have we produced anyone as embarrassing as Frederic Mitterand?
Billy Carter?