Populariteit Sarkozy daalt na beschuldiging van aannemen geheime donaties (en)
France's public prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that President Nicolas Sarkozy i received secret funding during his 2007 campaign from the country's richest woman.
Liliane Bettencourt, the billionaire heiress of cosmetics empire L'Oreal, is said to have provided Mr Sarkozy with "envelopes stuffed with cash" at her private parties in Paris.
The information was revealed by the billionaire's accountant, Claire Thibout, who said that "everyone in the household knew that Mr Sarkozy also saw the Bettencourts for money."
Ms Thibout also told police and media he withdrew €50,000 to be given to current labour minister and UMP party treasurer Eric Woerth as part of an alleged €150,000 cash donation for Mr Sarkozy's 2007 campaign.
Political donations in France are limited to €4,600 for individuals, while cash contributions cannot exceed €150.
Police moved to confiscate accounting records following a long interview with Ms Thibout in what has become a major expenses scandal ratlling the Sarkozy government. It comes days after two junior ministers resigned over allegations of having spent public funding on private jets and cigars.
Mr Sarkozy on Wednesday vehemently denied the allegations as a "smear" aimed at distracting the public's attention from his government's "constructive policies."
His aides even went as far as to denounce the "fascist methods" used by his political opponents to discredit him. In a television interview on Tuesday, Mr Woerth dismissed what he called "a political plot orchestrated by the Socialist Party."
Approval ratings of the French President have hit a new low, 33 percent, a poll published on Tuesday showed. Mr Sarkozy has become the most unpopular French president since the BVA pollster started the indicator 30 years ago. According to the survey, 64 percent of French people held a negative opinion of the incumbent president, 31 percent of whom called his performance "very bad."
The Bettencourt affair, a soap opera involving secret recordings of conversations revealed by her butler, has increased calls for a government reshuffle, with Mr Woerth so far being at the centre of the scandal.
His wife used to work for the company administring the fortune of the 87-year-old Ms Bettencourt.
The tapes suggest that Ms Bettencourt had been making cash donations to members of the ruling party, including Mr Woerth, and that she had been avoiding taxes.
The new twist involving Mr Sarkozy directly is similar to the donations scandal which brought down former German chancellor Helmut Kohl in the 1990s.
The Kohl scandal began in 1995 with news that an arms dealer had given a series of undeclared contributions to Mr Kohl's Christian Democratic Union. He admitted having accepted cash donations worth around 2 million marks, but refused to name the donors. In January 2000, the CDU leadership distanced itself from its honorary president, Kohl, forcing him to quit the post.