Sarkozy finds old gusto in French campaign speech

By Yann Le Guernigou

ANNECY, France (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy launched his presidential reelection campaign on Thursday with a vigorous call for reforms he said could propel France out of economic crisis, in a speech that showed dismal poll ratings had done nothing to damage his oratory gusto.

Sarkozy's first election campaign speech was packed with witty digs and sharp jibes at Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, who opinion polls show could easily defeat him if the election was held today. Yet its focus was on the seriousness of today's economic malaise.

"The crisis is a terrible ordeal and it shouldn't be underestimated, but it's also an opportunity for reforms. The crisis makes them possible and it makes them necessary," the president told an audience of several thousand in the Alpine resort of Annecy.

Sarkozy, who hopes his efforts to resolve Europe's debt crisis could give him an edge over the more popular but less experienced Hollande, said images of social unrest in Greece underlined for him that his first duty was to save France from a similar fate.

"A weak France leaves people vulnerable. Only a strong France can protect your families," he said.

"The biggest risk would be to carry on as before."

The conservative leader announced on Wednesday that he will run for a second term against Hollande, who launched his own campaign in late January based on a programme of stepping up taxes on business and the rich to fund spending on education, investment and state-aided job creation.

The election has turned into a two-horse race in recent weeks, with Hollande leading opinion polls for the April 22 first round and Sarkozy several points behind. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Francois Bayrou are too far behind at present to make it into a May 6 runoff, the polls show.

A daily Ifop opinion poll showed Hollande slipping half a point on Thursday and Sarkozy gaining one point, with the socialist at 29.5 percent and Sarkozy at 26.5 percent.

In the runoff, Holland's lead was slightly reduced to 56 percent, compared to Sarkozy's 44 percent.

SARKO SETS THE TEMPO

Sarkozy took a dig at what he said was Hollande's attempt to pretend to left-wingers in France that he would declare war on the financial sector, while promising Anglo-Saxon bankers they had nothing to fear from him.

Hollande brushed off the remarks as cheap shots, saying in an interview on TV channel TF1: "I'm not going to get stuck in brawls, quips and invective."

While Thursday's high-energy performance showed Sarkozy remains a formidable campaigner, aides admit it will be hard for him to make up the gap with Hollande unless his rival makes a mistake, or without an unexpected foreign crisis that could allow Sarkozy to show off his firefighting skills.

Sarkozy is holding out a carrot to grassroots voters resentful over market-driven economic gloom by pledging to hold regular policy referendums if re-elected, starting with one on his proposal to make the unemployed undergo retraining and actively seek jobs.

"Lots of French feel they are no longer in command of their livelihoods, to the point where they end up convinced they should say 'no' to everything to express their anger. I want to give a voice back to this France of 'nos'," Sarkozy said.

He admitted to having made errors as president, but said if he had not passed more structural reforms it was out of concern for not destabilising society. He blamed today's economic malaise on left-wing governments of past years who cut the work week to 35 hours and reduced the retirement age to 60 from 65.

Campaign aides say Sarkozy plans a rapid-fire nine-week campaign, under his slogan of "a strong France", where he will unveil a new idea every week.

"He's decided to set the tempo," said Alain Minc, an economist and long-time adviser and friend to Sarkozy, who said the president was "in a reactive stage."

"And as Sarkozy is playing with a big handicap, he believes he should set the tempo."

Former prime minister and presidential candidate Dominique de Villepin, an arch-foe, was less indulgent, telling TV news channel i>tele: "He's the champion when it comes to the quest for power but he's much less at ease when it comes to exercising it."

(Additional reporting and writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)