Latest update : 2013-03-22
The Woes of the Current President and the Worries of his Predecessor
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is now under formal investigation for his alleged role in the "Bettencourt Affair". The French papers would have been wall-to-wall Sarkozy if the news hadn’t broken before bedtime last night. Some found space, though, for the woes of current president François Hollande, who has been forced to lower his flagship 75% tax on the rich.
Le Figaro accuses President François Hollande of “Fiscal Bulimia” by trying to tax the wealthiest at higher rates even after the 75% rate has been axed.
But the papers are really obsessing over former president Nicolas Sarkozy. By now every paper online is running extensive coverage of his legal worries, now that he’s under investigation for “exploiting” France’s wealthiest woman, L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
The daily 20 Minutes is running a link-filled primer on the characters in the six-year saga, while Libération informs us that in contrast to Sarkozy’s previous protests to the contrary, Bettencourt staff members allege that he had paid her several visits.
The plot thickens, and Sarkozy’s lawyers are busy again.
