Nicolas Sarkozy will run for President in 2017, hoping to return as France’s head of state after being unseated in 2012 by the now deeply unpopular Francois Hollande, he announced on Monday.
A figure either loved or loathed by conservative voters, Mr. Sarkozy says in a forthcoming book he will join more than a dozen contenders vying for the party ticket in primaries, where former Prime Minister Alain Juppe will be his strongest rival. “I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history,” Sarkozy wrote on his social media pages ahead of the publication on Wednesday of Everything for France .
Mr. Sarkozy has done little to conceal his desire to return to the Elysee Palace since returning to high-level politics in late 2014 when he took the helm of the party Les Republicains.
ADVERTISEMENT