Paris  - On May 6, 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France amid high expectations that he would transform the country's inefficient, heavily state-dependent economy and energize its rigid society, prodding France to the forefront of modern nations.

Only one year later, Sarkozy is desperately fighting for political credibility, after suffering the most precipitous fall from grace in modern French history.

A lawmaker for the opposition Socialist Party, Pierre Moscovici, was certainly not wrong in saying that when Sarkozy took office "he had gold in his hands, and in one year he has transformed it into lead."

Even Sarkozy's allies concede that he has made a botch of his first year. The conservative daily Le Figaro, for example, headlined its pictorial resume of Sarkozy's first 12 months as president "From Triumph to Rebuff.

According to a poll by the Viavoice institute that was published by the left-wing daily Liberation, nearly six of 10 French adults believe that Sarkozy's first year in office was a failure. Only one of five said that his tenure has been a success.

Another poll, carried out by the Ifop-Fiducal institute and published in the pro-Sarkozy weekly Paris Match, was even more damning, with an astonishing 72 per cent saying they were dissatisfied with Sarkozy's performance in office.

This makes him the most unpopular French president at this stage of his term in French post-war history.

In the same poll, only 17 per cent said that Sarkozy was a better president than his predecessors, including Jacques Chirac, whose lacklustre rule he often used during his campaign as the symbol of what was wrong with France and its ruling class.

According to Viavoice director Francois Miquet-Marty, the most important reason for Sarkozy's plunge in popularity is "the contrast between his excess of confidence and his concrete results, between the hopes he raised during the presidential campaign and what he achieved."

Miquet-Marty said that the French had lost faith in their political institutions. "But Sarkozy made the French people believe that politics could be efficient and could profoundly change their lives. When we ask people about him now, they say, 'He deceived us', or 'He lied to us', or 'He made us dream but he did not deliver'."

He added, "Sarkozy promised too much, and the French believed too much. The result is a collective letdown."

What concerns the French most is the continued degradation of their purchasing power, as prices continue to rise and their wages more or less stagnate.

In a nationally televised interview on April 24 Sarkozy admitted having made errors, but also said that he had been victimized by events beyond his control, such as the US subprime crisis and the skyrocketing price of crude oil.

These factors are not likely to fade soon, which will certainly complicate Sarkozy's efforts to reconquer his electorate.

The French have also come to dislike Sarkozy personally. One reason is the manner in which he displayed in the media his turbulent private life, which saw him divorce and remarry within four months.

Another reason may be his arrogance. Writer Yazmena Reza spent one year on the campaign trail with Sarkozy and turned the experience into the best-selling book Dawn Dusk or Night. She told The New York Times that she believes the French president has failed to temper his personality to suit the office.

"One of the things that I liked about him... was his insolence," Reza said. "But he has not understood that power is itself insolent and that he could not continue with his habitual insolences. During the campaign his insolence seemed like an expression of freedom, frankness. But in office he has not curbed it, he has misjudged its effect."

This is true not only at home, but also abroad, where his arrogance and stubborn unilateralism have alienated many allies. In one year, Sarkozy has weakened the vital Franco-German relationship and lost credibility in the European Union, where he is increasingly viewed as something of a loose cannon.

The BBC reported earlier this month that, according to an e-mail sent by a senior official at the British Embassy in Dublin, the Irish authorities were moving up a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because they were afraid Sarkozy could make comments during the upcoming French EU presidency that would alienate Irish voters.

The memo noted that Dublin views Sarkozy as "completely unpredictable," and that the referendum had been moved up because "the risks of unhelpful developments during the French (EU) presidency... were just too great."

In fact, the six-month French presidency of the European Union, which starts on July 1, will be a crucial test for the French president.

It will be an opportunity for Sarkozy to show the world that he is able, and willing, to learn from his mistakes. (dpa)