Sarkozy says to stop career if lose election

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday said he will abandon his political career if he fails to win a second mandate as French president in the upcoming election.

In an interviewed with local radio RMC, the incumbent president said that he would try his best to win voters' confidence, to protect the French people and to lead them in building a strong France.

"But if that is not your choice, I will bow out," he said.

Sarkozy has proposed numerous reforms ranging from employment to tax during his public appearances since he declared his candidature in mid February.

He has most recently clearly decided to go all out for the populist, conservative voter, with a harsh tone on immigrants and the ritual killing associated with halal meat products.

But it seems the moves did not work. With six weeks to go before the first round of vote, the conservative UMP candidate failed to overturn deficits in polls which put him further behind his key rival, Socialist Party (SP) candidate Francois Hollande, who was projected to seize a strong lead over Sarkozy in the presidential election scheduled for April and May.

According to French pollster BVA's survey for the daily Le Parisien, the frontrunner Hollande remained the clear favorite with 33 percent in the first round of presidential race, leading Sarkozy by eight points.

Tuesday's poll put Hollande at 59 percent in the May 6 second round, beating Sarkozy who would garner 41 percent of votes.

French people expected the April-May election to become a clear two-horse race as "behind the two main rivals, the average weights are struggling," the poll showed.