 PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac threw his weight behind his party’s presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, overcoming hostility between the two in a move that could bolster the right’s campaign. Chirac said Sarkozy’s candidature should have the full backing of the ruling UMP party. “So it is totally natural that I give him my vote and my support,” he said in a televised statement.
| Boy howdy, there's a ringing endorsement. |
Chirac also said that Sarkozy would leave his post as interior minister on March 26, an announcement that had been expected after he said he would leave the centre-right government ahead of the first round of the election on April 22. |