FRANCE: French interior minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy received a boost yesterday from an opinion poll showing strong approval for his handling of almost three weeks of urban unrest, now on the wane.
The survey put Mr Sarkozy ahead of prime minister Dominique de Villepin, likely to be his main rival for the presidency in 2007, and showed both had come through France's worst civil unrest in almost 40 years much better than expected.
Police said the number of vehicles set on fire fell to a low of 163 on Tuesday night.
The IPSOS survey conducted on November 12th showed Mr Sarkozy's approval rating among voters was 11 percentage points higher than in October, in spite of strong criticism of his tough language at the start of the crisis and calls for his dismissal.
More than two-thirds of respondents approved of Mr Sarkozy's actions during the unrest. "It is clear that Sarkozy's strong message on security goes down well with the French people," political analyst Dominique Moisi said.
The IPSOS poll of 958 people for Le Point showed 68 per cent of respondents approved of Mr Sarkozy's actions since the unrest began. - (Reuters)