PARIS – Nicolas Sarkozy formally declared last night that he will run for a second term as president of France later this year. Mr Sarkozy appeared live on the evening news of the private TV channel TF1 to kick off a difficult re-election battle, saying that not to run would be like a captain abandoning his ship in a storm.
Asked why he was standing, he said: "France, Europe and the world has for the past three years seen a series of unprecedented crises" and not standing again would be like "the captain of a ship in the middle of a storm saying 'I'm tired, I'm giving up'." He said he would create a "strong" France based on the values of "work". Lagging behind the Socialist favourite, François Hollande, he will have to address the concerns of a country hit hard by the economic crisis while throwing the spotlight off his much-criticised record of five years in office and his unpopularity. – ( Guardianservice)