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Chirac likely to announce political retirement

President Jacques Chirac is expected to announce today that he will retire after more than 40 years at the top in French politics.

The 74 year-old leader is to reveal in an address to the nation on radio and television whether he will stand in the presidential election to be held in six weeks.

The content of his declaration has been kept secret by the Elysee palace, but the near universal consensus was that he will explain why he has decided not to seek an unprecedented third mandate.

With official nominations for the race due by Friday, Chirac has kept open till the last moment the option of running again -- despite polls that show he would have no chance of winning again.

But in recent weeks Chirac has given several hints that he intends to step down, telling a television interviewer last month that "there is life after politics" and that he hopes to serve France "in another capacity."

The president has also hosted three international meetings on issues known to be close to his heart -- Lebanon, the environment and French-African relations -- and this week he attended what was widely seen as his farewell EU summit.

If there was little suspense about Chirac's decision, speculation centered on whether he will use the broadcast to endorse the right-wing candidate for the presidency Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a former protege who heads the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

Sarkozy, 52, has a narrow lead in the polls over the socialist Segolene Royal, but now faces a new challenge from the centrist candidate Francois Bayrou, head of the Union for French Democracy, whose ratings have surged in the last month.

Chirac and Sarkozy -- whose relations have long been tense -- had talks last week, and Sarkozy said he was informed what the president plans to say in his broadcast.

Speaking on France 2 televi-sion, the UMP leader said Chirac's public backing "would have a certain weight among some French people who are still uncertain [how to vote]."

However, party insiders said they do not expect the president to make an explicit statement of support.
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