French President Nicolas Sarkozy"s approval ratings have slipped to match the lowest levels of his presidency, according to a poll today which comes as his centre-right party gears up for regional elections in March, Reuters reported. The TNS Sofres poll in conservative daily Le Figaro showed Sarkozy"s approval rating on 32 percent, a low he has touched only twice since he came to power in 2007 -- once in May 2008 and again a year later in May 2009. The survey underlines the challenge facing his UMP party, which is trying to overturn the opposition Socialist"s complete dominance of France"s regional governments in the elections, due on March 14 and 21. Sarkozy"s approval ratings have fallen steadily since the uproar last year over plans to install his 23 year-old son Jean at the head of the agency responsible for France"s biggest business district. Recent controversies, ranging from a debate over national identity, which has prompted accusations of populist electioneering, to worries over unemployment and France"s ballooning state debt, have further eroded support.
