Fortunes vary for big little men of Europe

PARIS - Both are dynamic and single-minded.

They each bent the political system to their will, shaped their party in their own image and used this vehicle to become unchallenged leaders of two of Europe's biggest economies.

Both men are also famous for their gaffes, their fondness for rich cronies, their insecurities about short stature and eye for a tall, curvy woman.

The similarities between President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would provide any amateur psychologist with plenty of evidence to diagnose a Napoleonic complex.

At photo opportunities, the two are often seen giggling together, like schoolboy chums sharing a private joke.

"I'm the one who gave you your wife," Berlusconi whispered to Sarkozy in February. The jokey aside, deciphered by a lip-reader hired by the French TV station Canal+, apparently referred to the Italian origins of the third Mrs Sarkozy, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni.

But for all the likenesses, the political fortunes of the two men are strikingly different.

By many standards, Sarkozy has performed well in the economic crisis.

A whirlwind of activity, France's President has put together a widely regarded support package, placed the focus on saving jobs and demanded reforms of the much-reviled financial sector that unleashed the storm.

Yet this week, the second anniversary of his electoral triumph, sees backing for Sarkozy at unprecedented depths.

According to a survey published for the daily Metro, 65 per cent of voters are disappointed with him and just 24 per cent are satisfied.

Parts of the French economy have been convulsed by strikes, driven by fear of the pro-market reforms that Sarkozy backed at the start of his presidency but has now discreetly shelved in the light of the recession.

Berlusconi, though, is riding a wave of support, which seems astonishing given the economic storm buffeting Italy, his string of clangers - he described President Barack Obama as "young, handsome and tanned" - and reputation for being sex-obsessed.

The latest attack on the 72-year-old former cruise-ship crooner comes from none other than his wife, Veronica Lario, 52.

She accuses him of "consorting with minors", a reference to a 17-year-old girl who was reportedly given a gold and diamond necklace by Berlusconi at her coming-of-age party last week.

She also criticises him for putting up "showgirls" - a string of beautiful young women with no political experience - to stand for his right-wing party in the European Union's elections next month.

Berlusconi has reacted furiously, saying he was friends with the teenage girl's father and accused his wife of being snared in a "media trap". As for the party's candidates, they were "brilliant girls with excellent exam results", he said. "And if they were pretty too, where's the harm in that?"

With a reputation for facelifts, sexual peccadilloes and foot-in-mouth disease, Berlusconi is dismissed by many foreigners as a buffoon.

But this underestimates the power he has within the country, where he has public support that Sarkozy can only envy and leverage unimaginable in France.

Many Italians do not see Berlusconi's character as a problem, but as part of his charm.

Sarkozy, though, invariably looks out of touch with the French mood. In a classroom, he would be the gawky loner who says he is right and is prepared to stick it out until everyone else realises the truth.

"He is continuing to carry out reforms while presenting himself as a protector President, staying the course and weathering the storm," said Gael Sliman of opinion pollsters BVA.

"By doing so, he is storing away points that can be used when the economic turnaround comes, in the runup to the next election."

In contrast, Italians like Berlusconi's glad-handing manner, and give him high marks for his handling of the earthquake that struck the central city of L'Aquila on April 6.

After initial fumbling (he said that living in tents should be likened to a camping holiday), Berlusconi made repeated tours of the quake zone, promising relief to survivors and telling them, "you are not alone".

Nor is his skirt-chasing manner viewed as a big deal. Indeed, a macho attitude is accepted, and even approved of, by many Italians, including women, say experts on Italy.

"The divorce business may upset part of his electorate, such as practising Catholics, but his popularity rests on other things," said Marc Lazar, a professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

Thrice premier, Berlusconi has gained experience in cobbling together coalitions over which he has progressively wielded more power and, like Sarkozy, enabled him to rout the left-wing Opposition.

But, unlike in France, he has also pushed through legislation that critics say has shielded him from probes into corruption and furthered his business interests.

Procedural devices in Parliament, which in Italy is in any case a weak institution, have further truncated debate.

Then there is Berlusconi's media empire, estimated by Forbes to be worth €4.5 billion ($10.34 billion). It includes three TV channels that comprise roughly half of the national audience, one out of four national newspapers, one of the country's two news magazines and its biggest publishing house.

These have given Berlusconi an extraordinary grip on what is said and thought about him, says the Economist, which believes Italy is undergoing "subtle Berlusconisation".

"It is not only that the Opposition has divided and the unions are split," the British news weekly said last week. "It is that a conviction has gripped much of society that the Prime Minister will stay in power indefinitely."