PARIS (Sputnik) – French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Monday he would run for president at the 2017 elections and intended to leave the current post on Tuesday.
“Yes, I am a candidate for president of the republic. … I will leave my post tomorrow,” Valls said as quoted by the BFMTV TV channel.
On December 1, unpopular French Socialist President Francois Hollande announced he would not seek reelection, which Valls called "a choice of a statesman" and added that "the dignity of this decision commands respect."
Hollande's former economy minister Emmanuel Macron and Left Party founder Jean-Luc Melenchon refused to run in the Socialist primaries, clearing the way for Valls.
The French presidential elections will take place in April and May 2017.
