Tue, Jan 08, 2008 page6

• Sarkozy may tie the knot next month: report

  • AP
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  Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy about to get married again?

  Under the headline "Marriage Imminent," the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, citing several unidentified sources, reported on Sunday that Sarkozy would marry his girlfriend -- former supermodel Carla Bruni -- on Feb. 8 or Feb. 9.

  The recently divorced French leader has flaunted their unmarried relationship on recent holidays in Egypt and Jordan, fanning criticism that he is playing too fast and loose with the presidential image -- and reportedly giving protocol planners elsewhere fits.

  The newspaper report said that last month -- less than a month after Sarkozy met Bruni -- he gave her a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring.

  The presidential palace declined to comment on the report.

  Political analyst Dominique Moisi said that a Sarkozy proposal to Bruni could be part of his desire to head off any future controversies, and its speed would fit with his personality as a busy man in a hurry.

  "Apparently, he's going to be marry her, so the problem will be behind him," Moisi said. "He will multiply the opportunities to travel with her, [and] to say to the French, `You see, I must remarry ... You need a first lady.'"

  "He's trying to seduce the French," Moisi said.

  Sarkozy and his wife of 11 years, Cecilia, divorced in October. Their marital problems became well known in May 2005 when she appeared in public at the side of event organizer Richard Attias.

  A marriage to Bruni, a one-time star of the catwalks who is now a singer, would be Sarkozy's third: He divorced his first wife, Marie, in the late 1980s -- after he had met and befriended Cecilia.

  Bruni, an Italian-born French citizen, has dated other famous men, including Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and business tycoon Donald Trump.

  Sarkozy, a reform-minded conservative with a pro-US slant, has sought to shake France out of what he considers its hidebound ways by trimming bureaucracy and revving up a stalled economy.

  But polls suggest the French are less eager to part with a tradition in which their presidents have kept quiet about their private lives and discretion about amorous matters has been the norm.

  "The French reproach Nicolas Sarkozy for making his private life too visible -- that he goes a bit too far," said Francois Miquet-Marty, head of political studies at the polling group LH2 Opinion. "But people are able to separate his professional duties from his private life. It does not seem to affect their overall view about him."

  The relationship has emerged as polls show many in France are growing increasingly wary about Sarkozy's bold campaign-trail promises for change before his election in May. And it is likely to be on many minds when Sarkozy holds a news conference today.

  A poll published on Sunday in the weekly Le Parisien Dimanche found that less than half of the respondents -- 48 percent -- had confidence in Sarkozy to solve the country's biggest problems, down 7 percentage points from last month. Forty-five percent did not, with the rest undecided. The telephone poll of 1,010 adults was conducted on Thursday and Friday.

  Abroad, Sarkozy's relationship with Bruni has drawn both criticism and confusion.

  In India, which Sarkozy is reportedly expected to visit in coming weeks, recent news reports say diplomatic officials have been grappling with how to handle protocol if Bruni accompanies him.

  Citing unidentified sources at India's Ministry of External Affairs, the newspaper Indian Express reported that Bruni could not receive a reception on a par with that of a president's spouse.
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