Sarkozy outlines platform for second prez election bid

Tweet

Paris, Feb 12(ANI): French President Nicolas Sarkozy has outlined the hardline platform on which he will fight for his political future: immigration, work and the welfare state, which has made it clear that he will stand for re-election.

He is expected officially to announce his candidature for the presidential re-election in the next few days, the Guardian reports.

Sarkozy, 57, had initially led the country to believe he would declare his candidacy near the 16 March deadline.

But with his Socialist rival Fran‡ois Hollande pulling ahead in the opinion polls, Sarkozy is expected to declare his candidacy earlier than scheduled.

Sarkozy hopes to win far-right Front National supporters to overcome widespread discontent and profound personal unpopularity.

Among the more populist planks of his manifesto is a threat to withdraw welfare benefits from the unemployed if they refuse a job and, in a move that appeared to surprise even his own advisers, he also warned he would risk invoking a referendum if the unions blocked the reform.

Sarkozy, who had urged France to get up early and work longer to earn more in his 2007 presidential campaign, has been recently caricatured as the man who has presided over a 12-year high in unemployment in France. (ANI)