French president Nicolas Sarkozy this evening confirmed he will run for another five-year term in elections starting in April.
He made the announcement on national TV network TF1 tonight, saying: “Yes, I am a candidate.” Mr Sarkozy was widely expected to run but kept his intentions quiet as other candidates have been openly campaigning for months.
Mr Sarkozy has lagged behind Socialist candidate François Hollande in opinion polls for months, and pollsters say the president will face an uphill battle to convince disillusioned voters that they should elect him again.
The first round of the two-round elections is just over two months away, on April 22nd.
Mr Sarkozy had originally planned to leave the announcement until closer to the deadline for nominations in March, but has brought it forward amid concerns in his UMP party over consistently poor opinion poll results.
An Ifop tracking poll last night showed Mr Hollande of the Socialist Party on a first-round vote of 30 per cent (unchanged); Mr Sarkozy up 1 per cent on 25.5 per cent; and National Front leader Marine Le Pen on 17.5 per cent, down 0.5 per cent. In a hypothetical second round between Mr Hollande and Mr Sarkozy, the poll gave the socialist a win by 57 per cent to 43 per cent.
Mr Sarkozy received a boost yesterday when Christine Boutin, a social conservative who had broken with the Sarkozy government and declared her intention to stand against him, withdrew from the race and endorsed the incumbent.
Another candidate who could chip into Mr Sarkozy’s vote, the centrist former defence minister Hervé Morin, is reportedly considering dropping out as well.
With Mr Sarkozy’s popularity ratings at record lows of close to 30 per cent for much of the past two years and polls showing large numbers of voters have taken a visceral dislike to him, his campaign faces a huge challenge to reconnect with disenchanted supporters.
There is speculation that Mr Sarkozy will publish a book next month in which he will acknowledge mistakes he has made and set out his vision for a second term.
He is expected to present himself as an experienced leader who guided France through a global crisis and has the courage to tell the French people hard truths on deficit reduction and spending cuts.
Mr Hollande and Mr Sarkozy have both pledged to balance France’s budget at about the same rate, though the socialist’s promise to hire 60,000 new teachers by raising tax for the rich has been attacked by the right.
Mr Sarkozy’s television appearance tonight clashed with a major speech by Mr Hollande to some 7,000 people in his home city of Rouen tonight.
The socialist candidate played down the announcement, however, saying the president had been in campaign mode for weeks. “Everyone already knew he was a candidate. It doesn’t change anything about the political situation or my own campaign,” he said.
Additional reporting: PA