Paris - One day after dropping his candidacy for chairman of the board of directors of an influential public body, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 23-year-old son was elected a simple member of that board, French media reported Friday. By a vote of 30 to 15 by members of the departmental council of the region of Hauts-de-Seine, Jean Sarkozy became a member of the board of directors of EPAD, the body that manages Europe's largest business district, La Defense.
His election was a foregone conclusion since a large majority of the members of the departmental council belonged to Sarkozy's UMP party.
Late Thursday, Jean Sarkozy ended two weeks of controversy by telling France 2 television that he would not be a candidate for chairman of the EPAD board.
Critics had said that he was too young and inexperienced to head a public body that manages hundreds of millions of euros, and they had accused his father, the president, of nepotism.
"I have no regrets," the younger Sarkozy said Friday. "I am looking to the future." But he admitted that being at the centre of the controversy had been "disagreeable."
In renouncing the post, Jean Sarkozy said late Thursday he had been the target of a "campaign of manipulation and disinformation," and that he decided to drop his candidacy to dispel any "suspicions of favoritism."
The controversy had spilled well beyond France's borders, so that more than 200 journalists from France and around the world were present to report on Friday's procedure.
The chairman of the EPAD board will be elected on December 4.
