Carla Bruni dragged into 'sex tourism' scandal

London, Oct 10: Some centre-right parliamentarians are blaming French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy for the 'sexual tourism' scandal that has engulfed the country's Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand.

Openly gay Mitterrand, the nephew of the late President Mitterrand, is presently struggling to save his name amid the storm over his past accounts of paying 'boys' for sex, reports The Independent.

Mitterrand faced calls for his resignation this week over his autobiographical novel 'The Bad Life' which describes paying for 'boys' in brothels in Thailand and Indonesia.

He appeared on French television on Thursday, and denied the book was a defence of paedophilia, insisting the men he met in Asia were consenting adults.

Suggesting that the scandal, which is being dubbed the 'bo-bo [bourgeois bohemian] values', some of the centre-right parliamentarians blamed Carla for the trouble.

"No one suggests that Carla Bruni is personally to blame but there seems to have been a shift, or a confusion, in the President's values since she appeared on the scene," said a parliamentarian from the President's party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP).

"It is generally believed that Frederic Mitterrand's appointment as Culture Minister was influenced by the first lady," the politician added.

ANI