Cantona keen to run in French election
Reuters - Monday 09 January 2012, 21:32
Eric
Cantona wants to run in this year's presidential election in
France and is trying to gather the signatures needed to do so,
the newspaper Liberation said on Monday.
The former Manchester United forward, who would need the
backing of 500 elected officials by the end of February to run,
has sent a letter to French mayors describing himself as an
"engaged citizen" and asking for their support, the left-leaning
newspaper said.
"This engagement obliges me to speak, more earnestly than
usual, but also with a keen sense of my responsibility, at a
time when our country faces difficult choices which will be
decisive for its future," said the letter, quoted in Liberation.
In his letter, Cantona denounced the limited opportunities
for young people in France and social injustices which were "too
numerous, too violent, too systematic," the newspaper said.
Election candidates will compete in a first round in late
April, with the two biggest vote-winners going through to a
decisive second round in early May.
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande is currently leading
President Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls.
Even if Cantona were able to get 500 signatures, a difficult
task without the backing of a party, he would have virtually no
chance of reaching the second round as an individual outsider.
It is not the first time Cantona, who earned large sums as a
footballer from sponsorship by brands like L'Oreal and Nike, has
tried to draw public attention to social inequality.
In December 2010, he called on French savers to stage a
nationwide bank run by withdrawing their money from financial
institutions because of their role in triggering the global
financial crisis. Panned by the media as a flop, almost no one
in France heeded the much-hyped call.