LEAD: "Third man" Bayrou promises to be France's "truth" candidate

Feb 1, 2012, 14:21 GMT

Paris - The possible kingmaker in France's presidential race, Francois Bayrou, on Wednesday accused incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy and his main rival, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande of 'lying and deceiving' the French.

Presenting his programme in Paris, Bayrou, the centrist leader of the Modem party who is running in fourth place in opinion polls, said he would be the candidate 'of the truth'.

That truth, he said, was that France needed to slam the brake on public spending in order to reduce the country's 1.3-trillion-euro (1.7 trillion dollar) debt burden.

'All those who claim that we can continue spending, that there is no need to save, they are again lying and deceiving. Francois Hollande is playing this game. Nicolas Sarkozy is playing this game,' he said.

Bayrou was the first senior French politician to sound the alarm about the country's galloping public debt level back in 2008.

Since then, the main parties have rallied to the call.

Sarkozy, Hollande and Bayrou have all committed to erasing France's budget deficit - estimated at around 5.4 per cent last year - by 2016.

Where they differ is how to bridge the gap between spending and revenue.

Bayrou, a former education minister who finished third in the 2007 election, said he would cut spending and increase revenue in equal measures - each by 50 billion euros.

The increased revenue would come from increases in VAT and income tax as well as the scrapping of numerous tax breaks.

He also pledged to tackle unemployment and 'rearm' French industry.

Unemployment has emerged as the top issue in the two-stage April/May election, with the proportion of jobless running at just under 10 per cent - the highest in 13 years.

Sarkozy argues that French labour is too costly. Bayrou said the problem was more one of the 'brand image' of French products.

'Our competitors, especially the Germans, are considered more reliable, more durable,' he said.

Opinion polls show around 11 or 12 per cent of French voters support Bayrou, behind Hollande (30-31 per cent), Sarkozy (24-26 per cent) and far-right National Front leader Marine le Pen (16-19 per cent).

For both Sarkozy and Hollande, Bayrou's endorsement could be crucial if, as expected, the election goes to a runoff round in May between the Socialist and the incumbent.

In 2007, Bayrou refused to endorse either of the two finalists but said Sarkozy was probably the worst option.

This time, he is keeping his cards close to his chest.

Meanwhile, former defence minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement withdrew from the race Wednesday, saying he did not have the means to continue his campaign.

The withdrawal of Chevenement, a left-wing senator, who won 5.3 per cent of the vote in 2002, was seen as a boost for Hollande.