It is a measure of the extraordinary levels of unpopularity manifest in polls for France’s President François Hollande – the most unpopular president in more than half a century – that his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy is able seriously to contemplate a comeback to the front line of French politics. And one that is increasingly taken as realistic.
If he succeeds in his ambition to be returned to the Élysée – and it will be faute de mieux – it will be the most remarkable comeback since Napoleon's return from Elba. And yet no more desirable – 63 per cent of the respondents told a recent poll, their country needs another Sarkozy term like a hole in the head. Or words to that effect.
Sarkozy, however, has never been one to undersell his place in history or his importance to France. "It's after long reflection," the 59-year-old announced, to no-one's surprise, on September 19th on his Facebook page, "that I've decided to offer the French a new political choice because it would be a form of negligence to remain a bystander to the situation that France finds itself in." Afterwards he boasted that he was "overwhelmed" by the response online: "I got 35,000 new friends in less than a day."
It will be some hill to climb, however, given the half-dozen continuing corruption investigations he still faces and a public with abiding unhappy memories of his term in office.
But first he has to win the leadership of his centre-right party, the UMP, whose supporters, polls suggest remain enthusiastic about him. He promises to rebuild it and rebrand it with a new name, must rescue it from its mountain of debt, and then will have to see off his two conservative rivals for the presidency, François Fillon and Alain Juppé, both former ministers in his administration.
Sarkozy is undaunted by the challenge, driven by his legendary energy and self-belief. It promises to make for a lively couple of years. In the words of one commentator, “Our own Berlusconi is coming back to us!”