Critics Turn on Sarkozy Over Yacht Holiday

He has toiled for 30 years to become French president, displaying an energy once likened by his rivals to a turbocharged Duracell bunny. So when Nicolas Sarkozy departed this week for a three-day break, supporters said it was well-deserved.

But the president-elect's brief downtime on a yacht off Malta was today questioned by the Socialist opposition for sending the wrong signal to the nation.

Mr Sarkozy is relaxing on the 60-metre Le Paloma with his wife, son, a small entourage and five security guards. Despite the distractions of several plasma screens and a karaoke suite, he was said to be using the time to reflect on his future government and imminent parliamentary elections when he hopes to secure a majority to push through labour reforms and €15bn (£10bn) of tax cuts.

One French website reported the luxury yacht belonged to industrialist Vincent Bolloré, one of the richest men in France. It was not clear whether Mr Sarkozy was a guest or had paid the roughly €110,000 three-day rate plus private flight.

Patrick Mennuci, an aide to Ségolène Royal, said the cruise and Mr Sarkozy's decision to stay at one of Paris's most luxurious hotels on the night of his victory was at odds with his message. Mr Sarkozy had promised to be the humbled, "president of the people" in a stream-lined, more efficient France.

"Everyone has a right to a holiday. But when you're a president, particularly a French president, I think that everything you do has a meaning," Mr Menucci said. He added that if the boat belonged to Mr Bolloré, it would show Mr Sarkozy's "worrying" link to big business.

An Italian news agency reported Mr Sarkozy telling a Maltese official he had come to the island to "make honorable amends" for a campaign "gaffe".

In one of his speeches, he had talked of the need to strengthen the EU's Mediterranean front forgetting to mention Malta, a lapse noticed by the Maltese ambassador to Paris.

In Paris, Claude Guéant, Mr Sarkozy's likely chief of staff at the Elyseé, said unions would be consulted over his ambitious reforms. Responding to trade union concerns, he said: "Nicolas Sarkozy has no intention at all of ramming things through." But he adding that unions could not hold the country to ransom since they represented 8% of workers, while Mr Sarkozy's victory was decided by 85% of the electorate.

The Socialist leader Francois Hollande today called for an end to anti-Sarkozy street violence. He said: "I ask them to immediately stop all this behaviour. We are in a republic, where universal suffrage is the only law we know. There can be disappointment, anger, frustration. But the only way to react is to take up your ballots, not other weapons."