French President Sarkozy announces re-election bid

(Paris) – Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has officially announced that he is running for second term in April-May presidential vote.
“Yes, I am a candidate in the presidential election”, Sarkozy said in an interview. “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 said.
Sarkozy said he was presenting himself as “the captain of a boat in the heart of a storm”, adding that “I have things to say to the French people, I have proposals to make to them”.