Short people ordered to stand behind Sarkozy

during speech

What lengths our leaders go to ...............:O)

Twenty short people were ordered to stand behind French President Nicolas Sarkozy to make him look taller while delivering a televised speech.

They were bused in after being "vetted" by aides of the French President who made sure none were more than his own height of 5ft 5ins.

The extraordinary scene unfolded at the Faurecia motor technology plant in Caligny, south of Caen, in Normandy, last Thursday.

Despite Mr Sarkozy's lack of inches, he looked far more statuesque than usual as he posed in front of the group of white-coated technicians on a specially erected stage.

In a broadcast on French television on Monday, a woman researcher admitted on camera that she had been chosen because of her small size.

Asked by the TV journalist Jean-Philippe Schaller if it was necessary for her to be no taller than the President's 5ft 5ins - a height which rises to around 5ft 7ins thanks to his stacked heels - she replied: "There you have it."

Pictures were then shown of the 20 workers on board a coach which brought them in from other parts of the three-mile-square Faurecia site.

All admitted that they were among the smallest members of the 1,400-strong Faurecia workforce, and had been selected to replace the usual workers in the unit where Mr Sarkozy made his speech about the car industry.

Mr Sarkozy, who is notoriously sensitive about his height, did not want a repeat of the fiasco in June when he was caught using a footstool when delivering a speech alongside Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama on one of Normandy's D-Day beaches.

Both the 5ft 11ins British Prime Minister and 6ft 2 ins US leader towered above Mr Sarkozy when they used the same podium, humiliating him in front of a worldwide audience.

But while the incident in June was considered amusing by some observers, this time round Mr Sarkozy was accused of scandalously manipulating his media image for political ends.

The distinguished political weekly Marianne referred to the "Sarko Studio", comparing it to a Hollywood film company desperately trying to boost Mr Sarkozy's popularity.

Telegrapgh : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6148922/Short-pe...