Sarkozy declares he will run again

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said last night he will run for another five-year term in elections starting in April.

Sarkozy has lagged behind Socialist candidate François Hollande in opinion polls for months. Pollsters say the incumbent president will face an uphill battle to convince disillusioned voters they should elect him again.

He made the announcement on national television network TF1 last night, saying: “Yes, I am a candidate.”

The first round of the two-round elections is over two months away, beginning on Apr 22.

Sarkozy was widely expected to run but kept his intentions quiet as other candidates have been openly campaigning for months.

Sarkozy pledged to boost the country’s lagging economy. In his announcement, he blamed French voters’ troubles in part on three years of financial crisis and said he would focus on getting more people working. He promised a referendum on jobless benefits and training the unemployed, and said further reforms are needed to maintain France’s “way of life”.

He said France cannot turn in on itself and “pretend the crisis doesn’t exist”.

Critics say he failed to deliver on promises to improve purchasing power, raised his own salary, and infused the palace with “bling” that was ill-suited for France’s cultural self-image.

Earlier, Sarkozy launched a Twitter account and, uncharacteristically humble, thanked all those “who will kindly follow me”.