By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Paris : French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s retirement reform plan has led to a dramatic drop in his public approval rating, with around 70 percent of the people saying they were “dissatisfied” with his work.
An opinion poll conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) issued Sunday said 70 percent were dissatisfied with Sarkozy’s work and half of them – 38 percent – were “extremely dissatisfied”.
Only 29 percent were satisfied with Sarkozy, according to the poll.
It is among the lowest approval ratings of any French president in living memory, commented the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, which published the survey.
The survey involving 1,828 French people was held between Oct 14 and 22.
The vote on pension reform was postponed twice, Oct 15 and then 20, before the senate eventually passed the bill Oct 22.
Sarkozy said he had no other choice but to raise the retirement age in an attempt to save the social security budget. He said the retirement system was running out of resources to serve France’s aging population.
The reform gradually raises the earliest retirement age from 60 to 62 by the year 2018. For people who have not paid enough into the state-pension fund, the retirement age moves up from 65 to 67.