FRANCE: To the intense irritation of the Élysée Palace, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy's staff gave his press conference advance billing as "de Gaulle-like".
It was only the latest sniping in the three-month-old skirmish between the interior minister and President Jacques Chirac. Mr Chirac, who sees himself as Charles de Gaulle's spiritual heir, prefers to read a prepared address in front of a camera.
Mr Sarkozy's ministry is across the street from the Élysée, which he hopes to inhabit after the 2007 presidential election. But for the past two days, the two buildings seemed to reverse functions.
On Tuesday night, Mr Sarkozy received more than 100 deputies from the National Assembly and a handful of senators for dinner. "When I invite 100 deputies, is it my fault if all 100 of them show up?" Mr Sarkozy quipped.
Surveying the standing room only crowd of journalists yesterday, Mr Sarkozy noted sarcastically that "the press understands the concerns of the French people after all".
The reception room was furnished with crystal chandeliers, tapestries, mirrors and gilt chairs.
Why had his press conference sent a chill through the political right?
"It's normal to have chills in winter," he joked before announcing his ministry's statistics for 2003. The performance was broadcast live on two cable channels - like a presidential address.
In private, according to Le Monde, Mr Sarkozy says, "Chirac doesn't hate me. It's worse: he fears me."
Since November, when he admitted he'd like to stand for the presidency in 2007, "Sarko" hasn't stopped nipping at the president's heels. The head of state should be limited to two five-year terms, he opined. Mr Chirac will have served 12 years by 2007.
For the Élysée, Mr Sarkozy's rebellion is a nightmare replay of the 1995 election, when the right split between Chiraqiens and Balladuriens. Though Mr Sarkozy had been a close friend of the presidential daughter Claude, acting as witness at her wedding, Mrs Bernadette Chirac never forgave "Sarko" for supporting Mr Edouard Balladur against her husband.
Bernadette was right. The upstart, who will turn 49 this month, recently dared to oppose her husband's law against the wearing of the Islamic veil in schools, and took it upon himself to advocate "positive discrimination" and the appointment of a Muslim prefect.
Mr Chirac objected to the concept, and to Mr Sarkozy's bringing religion into it, then yesterday appointed a prefect named Mr Aissa Dermouche, who was born in Algeria.
Mr Sarkozy is much like Mr Chirac in his younger days - fearless and cheeky. But however well-preserved you are, at the age of 71 it hurts to be overtaken by one's interior minister in the opinion polls. Mr Sarkozy, the most popular member of the government, scores 66 per cent of positive opinions, compared to 64 per cent for Mr Chirac.
Equally grating are Mr Sarkozy's forays into foreign policy, considered the president's preserve. On a trip to China last week, ostensibly to deal with immigration matters, Mr Sarkozy received royal treatment.
After meeting the Chinese president, he told reporters he'd asked his host "what it was like to become number one when you've been number two for 10 years."
Back in Paris, Mr Chirac's blood boiled. "When I was nobody and I went to China, I was also received by the president!" he confided to journalists at a New Year's reception.
Mr Sarkozy is the most pro-American member of the cabinet, and the trip he is planning to the US is viewed with particular suspicion. Mr Sarkozy may be trying to force Mr Chirac to sack him so he can portray himself as the victim of jealousy.
Insecurity was the leading concern of the French public during the 2002 elections. Mr Sarkozy took on the Herculean task of reversing the downward trend. As the results he announced yesterday showed, he appears to have succeeded.
Crimes and misdemeanours in France fell by 3.38 per cent last year; 140,000 fewer victims, Mr Sarkozy pointed out.
"I dedicate these results to the policemen and gendarmes on the ground," he added.
There were 3,974,694 criminal acts reported in France last year. "We've fallen below the 4 million line which caused so much trauma," Mr Sarkozy said. 2003 marked the first time in six years that crime in France has receded.
Nor does Mr Sarkozy plan to sit on his laurels. "We are making up a list of the 20 most crime-ridden areas in France. I will visit all 20 in the next three months," he promised.