Nicolas Sarkozy will officially announce that he is a candidate for the UMP party nomination for President of France this coming Thursday. The UMP party will hold a congress on January 14, and the 300,000 card carrying members will elect their candidate at that time. Mr. Sarkozy is currently the President of the party, as well as the Interior Minister. It is no surprise that Mr. Sarkozy will be a candidate, as he is currently the favorite to oppose Segolene Royal in the general election which will be held next April.
The UMP party is right of center politically, and it is also the party of the current President, Jacques Chirac, who might also try to go for a third term. It is roughly equivalent to the Republicans in the U.S. All other party members who wish to declare themselves candidates must officially do so before the end of the year.
It will be an interesting election in France with clear choices. Sarkozy is considered tough and sometimes outspoken, leaning toward free market solutions to economic problems. Segolene Royal of the Socialist party is charming, does not have a lot of experience in high level government positions, but she is very popular. Polls show a tight race if the two of them are in the second round.
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