Is he worth it?
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With his approval ratings in France still rock bottom, President Nicolas Sarkozy is again dominating the country's front pages for all the wrong reasons. Sarkozy is accused of receiving 150,000 euros in illegal party financing in 2007 - a claim he dismisses as a smear.
Two junior ministers resigned last weekend in separate spending scandals, while today, prosecutors launched an investigation into leading party UMP's campaign treasurer Eric Woerth.
Woerth is accused of taking illegal donations from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt while allowing her to evade taxes in his function as budget minister.
The allegations provoked outraged rebuttals and denials from Sarkozy's UMP party members. Woerth spoke of "a political plot orchestrated by the Socialist Party", while UMP party leader Xavier Betrand accused the Mediapart website - which released the leaked tapes - of "using fascist methods".
The scandal has severely damaged the already weak position of Sarkozy's government.
Benoit Hamon, spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party, called for a reshuffle and called for Woerth's resignation, claiming he now lacks the legitimacy to carry out pension reforms, the French government's priority at the moment.
Sarkozy's enemies are quietly rubbing their hands with glee as the once unassailable man of boundless energy struggles against the tide with less than two years to go before he has to fight for re-election.
