WHILE WE SIT BACK AND ENJOY:

Popular Sarkozy challenges Chirac (Caroline Wyatt, 12/12/03, BBC)

In France, a bloody political battle is taking place between the ageing President Jacques Chirac and his younger protege, the Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

His omnipresence in the media has led to calls for a Sarkozy-free day

Forty-eight-year old Mr Sarkozy has dared to suggest in public that Mr Chirac should not seek a third term in office, but retire to make way for a younger man.

Mr Sarkozy clearly has someone in mind for the top job - himself.

As the minister, nicknamed Sarko, is currently more popular in the polls in France than his boss, Mr Chirac, that is creating trouble at the top.

So omnipresent is Mr Sarkozy on France's screens and in its newspapers that left-wing journalists have proposed having a "Sarkozy-free day".

But that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. The dynamic young minister and his photogenic wife, Cecilia, have no intention of lowering their profile.

Since coming to office, Mr Sarkozy has put more policemen on the streets than ever before, cracked down on drugs, crime and terrorism, and two thirds of the voters say they think he is great. [...]

And now, he is saying the unsayable - calling for the ageing Mr Chirac to stand down after his current term in office.

That is tantamount to regicide, especially as it was Jacques Chirac who had long been Mr Sarkozy's mentor.

Regicide seems a tad tough in a country that's had a real one.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 13, 2003 6:52 AM