What will Carla say? Sarkozy FINALLY announces his plans to take on Hollande in the next presidential election – despite wife 'begging' him not to stand 

  • Former French president will seek leadership of the opposition UMP party
  • Sarkozy says Francois Hollande risks leaving France in a 'disastrous state'
  • But his political comeback is understood to be opposed by wife Carla Bruni 
  • Said to have 'begged' Sarkozy not to stand because people are 'mean to him'

By Simon Tomlinson and Ian Sparks for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

Return: Nicolas Sarkozy has finally announced  that he will seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party in a move that would position him for a 2017 presidential bid

Return: Nicolas Sarkozy has finally announced  that he will seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party in a move that would position him for a 2017 presidential bid

France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy announced his return to politics today by declaring he would seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party in a move that would position him for a 2017 presidential bid.

The announcement on his Facebook page ends months of speculation that the 59-year-old conservative would return to the fray after his defeat by Francois Hollande in 2012.

'I am a candidate for the presidency of my political family,' he said.

'I will propose reforming it from top to bottom so as to create, within three months, the basis of a new and broad movement that can speak to the French as a whole. 

'This broad movement will adopt a new project,' he added. 

The former leader had told journalists they would 'never hear from him again' after he lost the election to socialist Francois Hollande in the 2012 election.

But he then announced last year that he was considering standing for re-election because the socialists were 'ruining France'.

Disastrous left-wing policies left him 'no choice' but to make a challenge for the leadership, he said.

He added: 'Looking at the disastrous state France risks finding itself in, I will have no choice in 2017.

'The question is not knowing whether I'm going to make a come-back, but if morally I have the choice regarding France to not come back... Morally, I can not let the French people down.'

His political comeback is said by friends to be strongly opposed by his own wife Carla Bruni, who has 'begged him' not to stand because people were 'mean to him' as president.

Sarkozy's leadership bid could also be hindered by a raft of corruption charges he faces over illegal campaign funding.

He is accused of accepting illegal party funding payments from France's richest woman and L'Oreal heiress Lilian Bettencourt in return for tax breaks.

He has accused the country's socialist government of 'framing' him with the charges and branded the accusations 'grotesque'.

Pascal Perrineau, of the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, said: 'If he becomes UMP president, Sarkozy's political agenda will be constantly pushed around by an investigation into this case or that case, by a judge summoning him for questioning.

Francois Hollande
Carla Bruni

Decisions: Sarkozy said he would be 'letting the French people down' by not stranding against socialist incumbent Francois Hollande (left) at the 2017 French presidential elections. Sarkozy's political comeback is thought to be strongly opposed by his own wife Carla Bruni (right), who has reportedly 'begged him' not to stand

'He had also gradually forged the image of a wise man who stayed on the edge of the river and who only made comments every now and then,' Mr Perrineau added.

'But if he becomes UMP president, he will be asked for his opinion on everything every morning. There is a risk he will be worn down,' he said.

While his supporters are desperate for Sarkozy to return to politics, the wider French population doesn't really care.

A poll released on Tuesday by OpinionWay found that 64 per cent of French people were not interested in his upcoming comeback announcement.

Sarkozy's main rival for the nomination of his right-wing UMP party to run for president is former French prime minister Alain Juppe.

He was found guilty in connection with a separate corruption scandal seven years ago and handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence and banned from holding public office for two years, then went on to be foreign minister after the ban expired.

 

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