French President Nicolas Sarkozy poses prior to take part in the broadcast news of French TV channel TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on February 15, 2012.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced he will seek re-election in the upcoming elections despite his low popularity ratings.
On Wednesday, Sarkozy described himself as a tough realist, who is defending a “strong France”, and dismissed his Socialist rival Francois Hollande as a dreamer.
With 10 weeks to the vote, Hollande is leading in opinion polls.
"Yes, I am a candidate in the presidential election," Sarkozy declared on France’s TF1 television.
"I took this decision because France, Europe and the world have for the last three years seen a series of unprecedented crises, which means that not seeking a new mandate from the French people would be abandoning my duties," he added.
Sarkozy called himself the captain of a ship that has been caught in the heart of a storm.
He went on to say that the French should understand that only a strong France can protect them from multiple crises.
Sarkozy denounced Hollande's election manifesto, which calls for major state spending and the creation of thousands of jobs in teaching.
"Do you really believe that in the current economic climate, we can tell the French people that we do not need to make savings?" he said.
Sarkozy said Hollande's promise to revive "the French dream" can become a nightmare for the country.
Earlier, supporters of Socialist Hollande held a massive rally in the northern city of Rouen, where he slammed Sarkozy's poor five-year record.
"He has been wrong for five years and now he calls that experience," Hollande said.
Opinion polls have repeatedly predicted that Sarkozy will lose to Hollande in a run-off on May 6, but the incumbent president's supporters are hoping that he can regenerate the momentum that brought him to office in 2007.
GJH/AS
