Two-thirds of French back Carla's 'pet minister' over admission he paid for sex with boys in Thailand



French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand on the phone yesterday after fellow politicians backed him

Two-thirds of French people do not want Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand to resign for having written about paying young male prostitutes for sex in Thailand, according to a new opinion poll.

Mitterrand has rejected calls for his resignation, sparked by revelations in his 2005 autobiography, 'The Bad Life', and said the male prostitutes were consenting adults.

However, 67 percent of French people do not want Mitterrand to resign, against 20 percent who think he should, according to the survey of 1,005 people carried out by pollster BVA.

The French government has also come out in support of Mitterrand, who has threatened legal action to protect his reputation.



French First Lady Carla Bruni was accused of 'meddling' in politics by urging her husband to appoint Mitterand to his new cabinet.

She is now said to have succeeded after using her 'marital sway' over President Nicolas Sarkozy to win the openly-gay 61-year-old the key post of culture minister in his recent reshuffle.

Mitterrand, the nephew of former Socialist President Francois Mitterrand, shot to the top of popularity polls after he was drafted into Sarkozy's centre-right cabinet in June.



The controversy surfaced after Mitterrand defended film-maker Roman Polanski, who faces extradition from Switzerland to the United States for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.



Both the far-right National Front party and main Socialist opposition party said he should step down.

Mitterand writes in his book: 'The profusion of very attractive and immediately available young boys puts me in a state of desire that I no longer need to hinder nor hide... as I know that I will not be refused.



Sarkozy was accused of being influenced by Carla Bruni in his appointment of Besson

'I got into the habit of paying for boys. All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market, excite me enormously.'



Socialist Arnaud Montebourg said: 'It is impossible that a minister representing France can encourage violation of his own international commitments to fight sexual tourism.'

Mitterrand - nephew of the late president Francois Mitterand - has insisted that he is not a paedophile and that gay men often use the term 'boys' for other men.

He claims that he had sex with men of his own age including a 40-year-old boxer.

He said on French television when the story broke: 'It was an error yes, but not a crime, not even a serious mistake.

'Let anyone who has not committed this kind of mistake cast the first stone - among all the people watching this tonight, who among them has not done something like this at least once?'

While Sarkozy has not commented on the scandal since it erupted this week, senior members of his ruling UMP party have come out in support of the culture minister.

UMP party chief Xavier Bertrand said: 'The Socialists are now on the same ground as the extreme right, it's incredible. One is not obliged to use private life for political ends.'

French interior minister Brice Hortefeux said he never even knew Mitterand had written an autobiography until it emerged.



He added: 'I know him simply as a culture minister who is respected and recognised for his abilities.'







