Paris: Jobs for the Boys
- “I want one like that“
La Défense © PTB Henri Garat
EVEN FOR France’s bling-bling President Sarkozy, it was a pretty immodest gesture.
Cries of nepotism went up when Nicolas Sarkozy gave his son, Jean the plum job of heading up Paris’ business district, La Défense (pictured left). Feelings are running high, and it isn’t hard to figure out why.
Mr Sarkozy Jnr is 23 years old. With only two years on the conseil départemental under his belt, the President-designate of EPAD* hardly looks like the kind of heavyweight needed for the job. In his defence, he claims to be well briefed on the EPAD/La Défense files from his work as a councillor. That may be true. Trouble is, his chief qualification is that he’s the son of the Président de la République. Are we really supposed to believe there was no one else up to the job? Someone not just out of short trousers, so to speak?
A petition is currently doing the rounds, inviting Jean Sarkozy to do the decent thing (ie, turn down the post, get on with finishing his law degree and do a couple of work placements.) And, while it’s unlikely to attract quite as many hits as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s new online organ, it is gathering support.
So how much does the post really matter? The simple answer is, a lot. To the west of Paris, La Défense is lumbered with a legacy of ageing high-rises and a reputation for concrete soul-lessness. It has been hard hit by the recession, and yet it will play a pivotal part in the future of Greater Paris.
When (if?) Jean Sarkozy – aka “le Dauphin” – takes over the helm at the end of this year, he will have an annual 1 billion euro budget for modernising and humanising the district. Then again, if the challenge turns out to be tougher than expected, he can always count on Dad.
* l’Etablissement Public de l’Aménagement de La Défense
