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Sarkozy 'to bow out' if unelected
irishtimes.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012, 12:44
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said today he would fight with
everything he has to win a second term but will bow out of politics if
he loses an April-May election.
Mr Sarkozy, who is trailing Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in
opinion polls six weeks before the first round of voting, claimed Mr
Hollande's lack of ministerial or international experience was a
problem at a time of economic turmoil.
"I worry when I look at the Socialist candidate's programme... and I
worry about this dearth of experience in such a troubled period. But
if the French people do not put their faith in me, do you really think
I would carry on in politics? The answer is no," Mr Sarkozy told RMC
radio.
Mr Hollande widened his lead slightly this week, advancing 2 points to
30 per cent support for the April 22 first round, while Mr Sarkozy
gained only 1 point to 28 per cent. The survey, by pollster CSA, saw
Mr Hollande beating Mr Sarkozy by 56 per cent to 44 per cent in the
May 6 run-off.
"I will fight with all my strength to win your confidence, to protect
and lead you and build a strong France, but if that is not your choice
I will bow out, that's the way it is, and I will have had a great life
in politics," he said.
Mr Sarkozy said on a three-hour televised debate on Tuesday that he
was not discouraged by his weak poll scores and that one his
characteristics is that he never gives up.
But French media are reporting that his campaign team is starting to
worry that Mr Sarkozy's efforts to overcome a widespread dislike of
his personal style and anger over three years of economic gloom are
not working.
Campaign spokeswoman Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet - who was lambasted as
out of touch after she was unable to tell a radio presenter the price
of a Paris metro ticket - lamented this week that the race had
descended into distracting polemic.
Presidential spokesman Frank Louvrier has been quoted by the daily Les
Echos as saying that if Mr Sarkozy's camp did not keep the focus
squarely on debating ideas they were "sure to lose".
Mr Sarkozy launched his campaign in mid-February, several weeks after
Mr Hollande, and has opted for a strategy of unveiling his ideas -
such as a new minimum tax on company profits, making the unemployed
sign up to training to get their benefits and holding policy
referendums - week by week.
After a strong start that saw him trim the gap with Mr Hollande by a
few points, he suffered setbacks in his second week, including being
jostled by left-wing militants while out on the campaign trail, and
has now lost his initial bounce.
Meanwhile, Mr Hollande has consolidated his lead position after
announcing a surprise 75 per cent tax rate on annual income above 1
million, a move nearly two in three voters support.
On Thursday's radio show, Sarkozy proposed a new household fund for
women abandoned by fathers of their children, a new renovation
programme for city suburbs and said he would cut the number of
legislators by 10 to 15 per cent to trim public spending.
Mr Sarkozy, whose main focus is on structural reform and tighter
immigration rules, is expected to give his first real campaign
overview at a big campaign rally on Sunday in the Paris suburb of
Villepinte.
From: Baghdasarian
irishtimes.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012, 12:44
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said today he would fight with
everything he has to win a second term but will bow out of politics if
he loses an April-May election.
Mr Sarkozy, who is trailing Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in
opinion polls six weeks before the first round of voting, claimed Mr
Hollande's lack of ministerial or international experience was a
problem at a time of economic turmoil.
"I worry when I look at the Socialist candidate's programme... and I
worry about this dearth of experience in such a troubled period. But
if the French people do not put their faith in me, do you really think
I would carry on in politics? The answer is no," Mr Sarkozy told RMC
radio.
Mr Hollande widened his lead slightly this week, advancing 2 points to
30 per cent support for the April 22 first round, while Mr Sarkozy
gained only 1 point to 28 per cent. The survey, by pollster CSA, saw
Mr Hollande beating Mr Sarkozy by 56 per cent to 44 per cent in the
May 6 run-off.
"I will fight with all my strength to win your confidence, to protect
and lead you and build a strong France, but if that is not your choice
I will bow out, that's the way it is, and I will have had a great life
in politics," he said.
Mr Sarkozy said on a three-hour televised debate on Tuesday that he
was not discouraged by his weak poll scores and that one his
characteristics is that he never gives up.
But French media are reporting that his campaign team is starting to
worry that Mr Sarkozy's efforts to overcome a widespread dislike of
his personal style and anger over three years of economic gloom are
not working.
Campaign spokeswoman Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet - who was lambasted as
out of touch after she was unable to tell a radio presenter the price
of a Paris metro ticket - lamented this week that the race had
descended into distracting polemic.
Presidential spokesman Frank Louvrier has been quoted by the daily Les
Echos as saying that if Mr Sarkozy's camp did not keep the focus
squarely on debating ideas they were "sure to lose".
Mr Sarkozy launched his campaign in mid-February, several weeks after
Mr Hollande, and has opted for a strategy of unveiling his ideas -
such as a new minimum tax on company profits, making the unemployed
sign up to training to get their benefits and holding policy
referendums - week by week.
After a strong start that saw him trim the gap with Mr Hollande by a
few points, he suffered setbacks in his second week, including being
jostled by left-wing militants while out on the campaign trail, and
has now lost his initial bounce.
Meanwhile, Mr Hollande has consolidated his lead position after
announcing a surprise 75 per cent tax rate on annual income above 1
million, a move nearly two in three voters support.
On Thursday's radio show, Sarkozy proposed a new household fund for
women abandoned by fathers of their children, a new renovation
programme for city suburbs and said he would cut the number of
legislators by 10 to 15 per cent to trim public spending.
Mr Sarkozy, whose main focus is on structural reform and tighter
immigration rules, is expected to give his first real campaign
overview at a big campaign rally on Sunday in the Paris suburb of
Villepinte.
From: Baghdasarian