French right-wing candidate for the presidency Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy talks on the set of the Canal+ tv show "Dimanche plus" (Sunday +), 11 March 2007 in a Boulogne-Billancourt studio, near Paris. Chirac announced tonight that he will not stand as a candidate in next month’s elections, after more than 40 years in politics. Speculation has centred on whether Chirac will endorse Sarkozy, a former protege who heads the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). (Photo: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty.)