French nepotism?

It has been a rough month for President Sarkozy. His Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand caused a furor when it was revealed that he had paid for male prostitutes in Thailand. Then there is the ongoing trial of Sarkozy’s bitter rival, former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Now, Sarkozy's 23 year old son has caused an uproar by announcing his candidacy for head of EPAD. The public agency oversees La Defense, a business district on the edge of Paris.

When Jean Sarkozy, a second year law student at the Sorbonne announced he was standing for the position, France's influential daily newspaper Le Monde quickly condemned the move in a front page editorial.

"Not everything is permitted when you are the head of a democratic nation. It is not written in any manual, but there are certain things you don't do and don't allow," said the paper.

More than 40,000 people have signed an online petition urging him to withdraw. It is not Jean Sarkozy's first foray into the political arena. In 2008 he was elected to the position of regional councilor in the Hauts-de-Seine region and quickly became the head of the ruling center-right majority Union for Popular Movement (UMP) party in the wealthy suburb of Neuilly.

Everyone agrees that it has been a swift rise for such a young man, but there is no rule that says he cannot run for head of the agency.

Defending his son

Initially, President Sarkozy was silent, but he finally came to his son's defense.

"It is never right when someone is thrown to the wolves without any reason and in an excessive fashion," he said in a speech where he praised France for being a country in which ability rather than privilege was the key to success.

"What counts in France is not to born to a wealthy family, but to have worked hard and to have proved your worth through your studies and your labor," added Sarkozy.

But even the President's efforts were not enough to still the voices of protest. There are also those who wonder if it is prudent to put someone so young in charge of an agency that is planning a one billion euro renovation.

"It's a family affair. It's not in tune with the type of local democracy we practice and borders on nepotism. We are putting everything in the hands of -- dare I say it -- the prince's son," said Jean-Paul Huchon the Socialist chairman of the Paris region.

Shrugging off the controversy.

Jean Sarkozy himself was taking all the criticism in stride.

"Whatever I say, whatever I do, I will be criticized," he told the French paper Le Parisien. "I don't want to complain, I want to act. It's by my acts that I'm asking to be judged and I will show what I'm going to do if people put their trust in me."

Jean Sarkozy is President Sarkozy's second son from his first marriage. Last year he married Jessica Sebaoun, an heiress of French electronics retail giant Darty.

Now that President Sarkozy has come to his son's defense, the rest of the administration has begun to echo the party line.

"Jean Sarkozy was elected by the voters of Hauts-de-Seine and then by his peers to head the district council. Now he's designated by the same council to take up the presidency of the agency. It's an election. It's a competition. There's no point in creating a controversy like the one we're seeing at the moment," said French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in an interview with the BBC.

Laurence Parisot, the head of the main employers’ organization, chimed in with her support.

"I think it is marvelous that someone so young and committed has the ambition to lead a public institution of this kind. He was elected and has every right to apply," said Parisot.

Right now, the young Sarkozy is the only candidate being considered because no one else has applied for the position.

av/AFP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Trinity Hartman