Sarkozy decamps his cabinet to French provinces

STRASBOURG, France, Sep 7 (Reuters) President Nicolas Sarkozy held a cabinet meeting in the eastern city of Strasbourg today as part of his drive to appear close to the problems of everyday French people.

It was the first time in more than 30 years that the French government has held its weekly meeting outside Paris and Sarkozy told his cabinet they needed to regularly leave the French capital and visit the provinces.

''The president's message was to say that the country is not only being run from Paris,'' government spokesman Laurent Wauquiez told reporters.

'''I want you to govern while making sure you're close to the ground'. That's the message he addressed very clearly to his ministers,'' he added.

Previous presidents have traditionally ruled France from the the comfort of the gilded Elysee Palace, but Sarkozy has criss-crossed the country since his election in May in an effort to show he is in touch with voter concerns.

Sarkozy ordered his government to travel with Towns Minister Fadela Amara to see the situation in deprived suburbs following the 2005 riots, while Housing Minister Christine Boudin said she would move her entire administration to Lyon for 10 days.

Wauquiez promised that the administration would come up with concrete measures in November for the rundown neighbourhoods that ring French cities and are riven by crime and unemployment.

Strasbourg is one of the homes of the European Parliament and is also the capital of the Alsace region, where Sarkozy scored his best result in this year's presidential vote.

However, he angered many local supporters by failing to pick any centre-right Alsatian allies for his government team and instead offering a post to a senior Socialist in the region as part of his effort to reach out to the defeated leftists.

Looking to smooth ruffled feathers, Sarkozy has made a number of trips to Alsace since May and spent the night in Strasbourg yesterday to meet local officials.

Socialists dismissed the out-of-Paris cabinet meeting as a gimmick aimed at winning votes ahead of next year's municipal elections.

The government plans to hold its next non-Paris cabinet later this year on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

REUTERS SLD VC2015