Majority of French voters refuse to back Sarkozy's second term in 2017 : poll

Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the Les Republicans political party and former French President, leaves his campaign headquarters in Paris, France, August 23, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

PARIS - Seventy-nine percent of French voters did not back former president Nicolas Sarkozy's bid for a new mandate at the Elysee Palace, a day after the conservative leader formally announced his candidacy for next year's presidential race, a poll showed on Tuesday.

An Elabe survey for BFMTV news channel showed 54 percent of supporters of right wing parties did not back Sarkozy candidacy.

On Monday, the former president, said he would run for 2017 presidential election in an extract of a book "Everything for France" to be released Wednesday.

"I have decided to be a candidate for the 2017 presidential election. I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history," he tweeted.

"The coming five years are those of risk but also of hope," he added.

After announcing his bid, Sarkozy, 61, handed over the leadership of the Republicans party to Laurent Wauquiez, the party's vice president.

He also joined a large pool of contenders for the two -round primaries scheduled for November 20, 27.

Pledging "Everything for France," the conservative leader, on the economic front, pledged to cut public spending by 100 billion euros (113.05 billion US dollars) over the next five-year-mandate and reduce payroll charges.

On immigration, a sensitive issue in election campaigns, he proposed to suspend the right of family members to join a migrating relative in France.

In 2012, Sarkozy was defeated by the Socialist leader Francois Hollande. After a two-year break from politics, he came back as leader of the crisis-hit conservative party then known as Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

While Hollande's approval rating is at a record low, Sarkozy is betting on his political credentials and dynamism which earned him in 2007 the highest popularity ratings of any leader since Charles de Gaulle.