(Updates with further details, no indication of endorsement for Sarkozy)
PARIS (AFX) - French President Jacques Chirac said he will not stand as a candidate in next month's presidential elections, ending a career of more than 40 years at the top of French politics.
The 74 year-old leader, who has been in office since 1995, said in a televised address to the nation that he will not seek an unprecedented third term.
'At the end of the mandate you have conferred on me, the moment will have come for me to serve you in a different fashion. I will not ask for your votes for a new mandate,' he said.
As expected, Chirac gave no indication in his 10-minute address whether he intends to endorse the right-wing candidate for the presidency, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a former protege who heads the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
Sarkozy, 52, has a narrow lead in polls over socialist Segolene Royal but now faces a new challenge from the centrist candidate Francois Bayrou, head of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), whose ratings have surged in the last month.
A poll published in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper for the first time showed Bayrou on the same score as Royal -- 23 pct -- in the first round of the vote on April 22. Sarkozy was given 29 pct. The two leading contenders qualify for a run-off on May 6.
Sarkozy, whose relations with the president have long been tense, said earlier that a statement of support from Chirac would be 'a politically important event' but that he did not expect it in the broadcast.
Chirac will officially leave his post on May 16, when his mandate expires. He has indicated that he would like to chair a foundation, promoting causes close to his heart such as the environment and non-European cultures. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/cml COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited