PARIS, (Reuters) – The 23-year-old son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy has dropped his bid to run the agency that oversees Paris’s wealthy business district, saying yesterday he wanted to remove any suspicion of nepotism.
However, Jean Sarkozy told French 2 television he would still seek a seat on the board of the influential EPAD agency at a vote scheduled for today.
“If I am elected, I will not seek to become chairman,” said the youthful Sarkozy, a second-year law student who is looking to build a career for himself in politics.
Critics widely denounced his efforts to take the helm of EPAD, which manages the La Defense neighbourhood on the outskirts of Paris, and accused his father of orchestrating the unprecedented promotion.