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M. Continuo

Polls show support for Sarkozy at new low


    PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy's approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he was elected president of France nine months ago, two opinion polls showed on Monday.

    A monthly IPSOS poll for weekly Le Point said support forSarkozy had fallen 10 points to 39 percent in February, and aCSA poll for daily Le Parisien and i>Tele television said ithad fallen six points in a month to 42 percent.

    The surveys did not provide details on respondents' reasonsfor their answers but previous polls have pinpointeddisapproval of his public romance with former model CarlaBruni, whom he married on February 2, and anger over the costof living as causes.

    The IPSOS poll of 944 people carried out on February 8 and9 said Sarkozy's approval rating had fallen from 49 percent amonth earlier. The number of respondents who disapproved ofSarkozy rose 9 percentage points to 58 percent from 49 percent.

    In contrast, the approval rating of Prime Minister FrancoisFillon, who has been relatively low-key in his publicstatements while Sarkozy has taken centre stage, continued toimprove. It rose to 52 percent in February from 45 percent inJanuary.

    The CSA poll of 1,004 people, conducted on February 6 and7, also found Fillon's popularity had grown, rising 5 points to47 percent, while the number of respondents who did not trustSarkozy had increased to 52 percent from 45 percent.

    In both polls, Sarkozy's approval rating was the lowestsince he won France's presidential election in May.

    (Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Andrew Roche)