Sarkozy's seaside G8 marks chance to turn political tide

PARIS: With less than a year to go before he seeks re-election, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is counting on a good run as chairman of the G8 powers to revive his flagging political fortunes.

Despite the spectacular fall of his chief rival Dominique Strauss-Kahn, arrested in New York on sex assault charges, Sarkozy's domestic approval rating is according to several polls stuck at less than a third.

But the ambitious campaigner remains confident, his allies say, pointing to stronger than expected growth figures, a slight bump in his popularity and disarray in the opposition camp. Now he is counting on international glory.

By an accident of the international summit calendar, France now holds the rotating presidency of both the G8 group of developed world powers and the G20 of large economies, a fact Sarkozy is determined to exploit.

Starting on Thursday in the Channel resort of Deauville, and concluding in November at the G20 in the Riviera resort of Cannes, he aims to put Paris at the centre of the global political and economic agenda.

According to political scientist Stephane Rozes, Sarkozy's own standing is too damaged for him to take direct benefit from the Strauss-Kahn's arrest, but the G8 will allow him to "re-presidentialise" his image.

Sarkozy will take up the defence of nuclear power in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima disaster, despite rising doubts about the safety of an industry at the heart of France's industrial and energy strategies.

Having led calls for international military action in Libya, he will pose as the champion of the Arab world's democratic revolutions, despite France's slow response to the revolts and close ties with Tunisia's ousted regime.

And, despite his own attempts to crack down on illegal downloads, he will champion global online freedom, albeit in the form of a regulated "civilised Internet" that is likely to raise Washington's free market hackles.

How much success he will have remains to be seen but he can not be faulted for lack of effort. He was the first head of state to visit Japan in the wake of the nuclear crisis, and first to meet Libya's rebels.

Now he hopes to rope his seven great power colleagues into his agenda, even it it does not lead to any key decisions on Deauville's elegant promenade.

"The G8 should be a place of informal and very frank discussions, without thought for eye-catching announcements," an Elysee official cautioned.

Just being photographed with the powerful and possibly alongside his pregnant supermodel wife Carla will be a boost for Sarkozy, and also for the G8 itself, which once looked doomed to be swallowed by the G20.

At the height of the international financial crisis, with new growth and recovery only likely to come from emerging powerhouses China and India, the old western-dominated forum appeared past its sell-by date.

But with tumult in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia once more in the headlines, and the global economy making a wobbly return to growth, the efficient decision-making of the smaller group takes centre stage.

"We won't remake the world at the G8," said Sarkozy advisor Henri Guiano. "The global economy, financial regulation, climate change, are matters for the G20. The G8 will coordinate the action of the developed world."

And one French minister said: "The question of the G8's international credibility is important for the president, at a time when the French people need to be reassured about their place in the world."

As some matters will be too tricky even for the elite club around the G8 table, Sarkozy also plans to hold bilateral meetings with US President Barack Obama, Russia's Dmitry Medvedev and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron.

Sarkozy will attempt to convince the US leader -- whose country dominates the online industry and enshrines freedom of expression in its constitution -- of the need to examine plans to regulate the Internet.

With Medvedev, Sarkozy will concentrate on trying to finalise France's bid to sell Moscow four Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, despite fears in Washington and Eastern Europe over arming the former Russian foe.

Sarkozy has invested much personal credibility in the sale, and personally promised French shipyard workers the lucrative work, but Russia is pushing a hard bargain and wants to build some of the ships itself.

As always, French officials insist "negotiations are advancing well", but if Medvedev is truly considering running for re-election against his mentor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin he can not afford to look weak abroad.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011