Chirac Keeps Options Open on Third Term

The French president, Jacques Chirac, gave what was probably his last Bastille Day address to the nation yesterday, vowing to put his final months in office to good use and stop France falling into political paralysis.

But Mr Chirac, 73, who has been in office for 11 years, refused to say he would not stand for a third term in 2007 - he would announce his decision early next year. He pointedly declined to endorse the conservative presidential frontrunner, the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

Last year Mr Sarkozy hosted a rival garden party and compared Mr Chirac to Louis XVI at Versailles. But this year the president persuaded Mr Sarkozy to delay the launch of his latest book, which was threatening to steal the headlines this week, and assured the nation that the pair had "very good relations".

Mr Chirac has had one of his most turbulent years as president. His popularity plummeted after last autumn's riots in the suburbs, followed by serious street protests over employment laws, and allegations of a smear campaign within his government. His popularity rose slightly in the past month, boosted in part by French successes at the World Cup.

He promised to put the next 10 months to good use, overseeing the reform of the justice system and cutting unemployment in what he called a "great nation in a state of malaise".