Monsieur Guillotine

He is tallish and blond while his father is short and dark, but a minute with Jean Sarkozy is enough to see that the French President’s son is a chip off the paternal block. The shrugs, charm and verbal tics of the 21-year-old are pure Sarko. France has just discovered that shy Jean is just as fast as his dad with the dagger.

Sarko Jr, the second son of the President’s first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, has just done his father’s dirty work and performed the political execution of David Martinon, the presidential spokesman. Sarkozy Sr had anointed Martinon, a 36-year-old technocrat, as the next boss of Neuilly, the opulent borough on the western edge of Paris that was his power base and that he ran as mayor for 19 years. Sarko came to Neuilly to introduce Martinon ahead of next month’s council election. The President was handing his dauphin a golden throne for his political baptism.

But the rich and very Sarkoziste people of Neuilly rebelled at this parachutage and Martinon blew his chances with an inept campaign. His handshake was limp on his outings on the market square. He made a fool of himself at rallies, where hecklers chanted “Martinon-non-non”. He blew it by calling for the vote of “the old people” – a gaffe in a borough full of senior citizens. By last week, the unthinkable happened. An anti-Martinon – but still pro-Sarkozy – dissident candidate appeared likely to win.

So Sarkozy called young Jean to the rescue. Until this month, the diffident law student and amateur actor was known to the public as Scooter Sarko because of his misadventures with his personal transport. France had also heard that Jean was something of an actor and musician, like Pierre, his rap-producing elder brother.

Jean’s political talent was first displayed last month when the media turned its gaze on the electoral fiasco unfolding in Sarko-ville. Jean had been sent in to help to save Martinon. While the spokesman continued to stumble around, Jean emerged as a star, glad-handing the voters and working the doorsteps like a pro. At les Sablons, the main open-air market, he sampled the produce and swapped jokes, while Martinon played the haughty fonctionnaire.

When last week the polls still refused to shift in favour of Martinon, it was clear that Sarkozy Sr would pull the plug and sacrifice his hapless spokesman. Losing his fiefdom would be too much at a time when France has already gone sour on Super Sarko.

So Jean and two senior councillors from Sarkozy’s party announced on Sunday that they were deserting the President’s appointee and standing as rivals. A humiliated Martinon withdrew yesterday and offered his resignation as spokesman, which Sarkozy refused. Jean is not running for Mayor of Dad’s town, but he can be sure of becoming a councillor, his first elective post.