Former president Nicolas Sarkozy says that France is plunging into a deep financial and social crisis which will eventually demand a national saviour – himself, reports The Independent.
In comments published in a business magazine tomorrow, Mr Sarkozy insists he has no wish to return to politics, which “bore me to death”. He says, however, that he may be forced to run for president once again in 2017 by “serious events”.
“There will unfortunately come a time when the question will no longer be ‘Do you want to?’ but ‘Do you have the choice?’” Mr Sarkozy is quoted as telling friends. “In that case, actually, I will be obliged to run. Not because I want to. But from a sense of duty. Purely for the sake of France.”
The right-wing business magazine Valeurs Actuelles says the comments were drawn from a series of conversations between Mr Sarkozy and his friends and “visitors”.
His timing is intriguing. President François Hollande, who defeated him 10 months ago, has plunged to the lowest approval rating of any French president in modern times. Unemployment is rising. The economy is becalmed.
Read more of this report from The Independent.