ANALYSIS: Zesty Sarkozy goes zen

By Clare Byrne May 28, 2011, 9:59 GMT

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was basking in the glow of his peers' praise after pulling off a successful Group of Eight (G8) summit, which ended Friday in the seaside resort of Deauville with headline-grabbing pledges of support for the Arab Spring.

While gusty winds and intermittent rain cast a chill over the northern French city, it was plain sailing for the French leader, who was being covered in congratulations, both for the summit and the fact that his glamorous wife was pregnant.

France's worst-kept secret was confirmed in Deauville as the ex-supermodel, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, cradled a visible bump while posing for photographs with the other leaders' spouses. The presidential pair have refused to discuss the matter publicly.

But the habitually prickly president was more indulgent than usual with reporters' questions.

Asked at a press conference how his wife was doing - code for 'Can you confirm she's pregnant?' - Sarkozy joked: 'I just had her on the phone. She was doing very well. I'll tell her you were asking for her.'

Comparing the Sarkozy of three years ago with the expectant father of today, the conservative Le Figaro daily wrote: 'This time, the head of state is far more zen.'

If the leader dubbed 'Speedy Sarko' for his usually hyperactive style appeared relaxed, it is also because the man who had looked set to oust him as president next year was not around to steal his thunder.

Disgraced former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been set to attend the G8 on behalf of the IMF. The two were certain to jostle for attention.

Instead, Sarkozy was free to shake the outstretched hands of local residents, while Strauss-Kahn sat under armed guard in a Manhattan apartment pending his next court appearance.

The French president had been counting on the G8 for a boost.

With less than a year to go until the elections, Sarkozy has struggled to turn around his ratings, which show only 28-29 per cent of French people supporting him.

In previous years he would resort to international crises to improve his image.

Whether mediating in the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, or campaigning for military intervention in Libya, the omnipresent French president likes nothing better than marshalling his colleagues into action.

'International events are Sarkozy's forte,' Britain's The Guardian newspaper wrote ahead of the summit.

Without Sarkozy's vigorous campaigning it is uncertain whether the United Nations would have approved military intervention in Libya.

Had the intervention not taken place, Sarkozy said in Deauville, the Libyan rebels' stronghold of Benghazi 'would have been wiped from the map.'

There's also Ivory Coast.

Had French peacekeeping troops not intervened to help rout belligerent president Laurent Gbagbo from his Abidjan bunker, the economic capital of the West African country would probably have been plunged deeper into civil war.

'President Sarkozy is always full of good ideas,' British Prime Minister David Cameron said with a touch of humour when asked to confirm Sarkozy's announcement that they both planned to visit Benghazi.

But the populist president has yet to mend his rift with the French, with polls still showing him lagging behind the yet to be decided Socialist candidate.

'The DSK affair and the presidency of the G8 could help President Sarkozy appear more presidential again,' Stephane Rozes, a political analyst and founder of Cap consultancy, told the German Press Agency dpa.

'But it's going to be a long haul,' Rozes said.

Analysts also point out that, despite US President Barack Obama praising Sarkozy for 'his leadership on the world stage,' the French are more focussed on domestic affairs.

Sarkozy himself will be caught up with domestic affairs in the months to come.

When the world's leaders descend on France for a G20 meeting in November, the French leader may well be bouncing a new baby on his knee.