Chirac to make election decision in early 2007

PARIS, Sep 18 (Reuters) French President Jacques Chirac refused to say on Monday if he would run for a third term and will announce his decision in early 2007.

Chirac said it was too early to talk about next spring's election and vowed his government would work until its last day in office to prolong the recent economic revival.

''I will announce my intentions in the first quarter of next year and in the meantime I refuse to get involved in any speculation, which seems to me quite useless,'' Chirac told Europe 1 when asked if he would run again.

With the election already dominating political life, analysts said Chirac was seeking to stave off talk of a lame duck presidency.

''I think for now Chirac wants to push back the start of the presidential campaign as much as possible because it will by definition lead to him being eclipsed,'' said Eric Mandonnet, deputy editor of the L'Express news weekly.

Chirac's low poll ratings have improved recently on the back of his handling of the crisis in Lebanon, prompting some aides to tout his lengthy foreign policy experience as a reason for him to run for re-election.

The president hinted his decision would be made nearer March than January, when the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is expected to pick Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy as its candidate.

''You can do and say all you need in an election campaign of two or three months,'' said Chirac.

AMERICAN POODLE Chirac has been forced to publicly defend Sarkozy, who has come under fire for using official trips to further his presidential ambitions.

While representing France at ceremonies marking the September 11 attacks, Sarkozy met US President George W Bush and made a speech in which he praised the US and criticised France's public defiance of Washington over the US-led war in Iraq.

The leftwing opposition has branded Sarkozy an ''American poodle'' and Chirac, speaking before heading to New York for the UN General Assembly session, issued a clear putdown.

''The relations I have with President (George W) Bush are relations ... that are very good, and relations of confidence.

But that does not mean the relationship is submissive, and there will never be a submissive relationship in my mind.'' The French leader also ruled out pensions and education reforms touted by Sarkozy and made clear he wanted no squabbling between the UMP leader and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, a Chirac loyalist who harbours ambitions to supplant Sarkozy as the right's champion next spring.

Reuters SSC GC1810