For the first time, the French right and centre is holding an open contest to choose its presidential candidate. Anyone on the electoral register can vote if they pay �2 (£1.72) and sign a pledge saying they adhere to "the values of the right and centre". Up to three or four million people could turn out to vote in the two-round ballot on 20 and 27 November.
有史以來第一次法國的右派和中間派公開對抗來角逐出一位候選人.選民名冊上的人都可以參加投票,只需要交2歐元（即1.72英鎊）外加簽署一份堅持"右派和中間派的價值觀"的承諾書就可以了.在11月20日和27日這兩輪投票中,會有多達三至四百萬的民眾參與.
Sarkozy is the challenger and not the favourite in the right's primary race. The leader in the polls and currently France's favourite politician is Alain Juppé, the mayor of Bordeaux and a former prime minister, who served as Sarkozy's foreign minister.
薩科齊是一位挑戰者,但在右派黨內初選中并不具有優勢.法國當下呼聲最高的政客當屬波爾多市市長、在薩科齊任期擔任外交部長的前總理阿蘭·朱佩,在民意調查中他也一路領先.
Juppé, 71, has undergone a staggering image transformation. Twenty years ago he was the most loathed prime minister in modern times after his pension changes brought 2 million people on to the streets in protest. Now he is seen as a calm, elder statesman and a moderate, pushing pro-business structural reform and less divisive on identity issues.
朱佩現年71歲,其公眾形象已與往昔大有不同.二十年前,他在養老金政策上的改動導致兩百萬民眾上街抗議,他也因此成為現代最受厭惡的總理.而如今他卻搖身一變成為沉著老練的政治家,作風穩健不極端,推行利商結構改革,在國家身份問題上盡量減少對立.
Sarkozy believes that the climate of fear and anxiety in France after the deaths of more than 230 people in terrorist attacks claimed by Islamists in the past 19 months means the nation needs a man of authority such as himself.
過去19個月里,伊斯蘭極端組織在法國發動的多起恐怖襲擊導致超過230人死亡,薩科齊堅信當下民眾的恐慌和焦慮情緒亟待一個有權威的人來化解,比如說他自己.
One hurdle for Sarkozy beyond winning over right and centre-right sympathisers is his lasting unpopularity among the wider French population who still dislike his abrasive personality and his hard-to-shake-off label of "president of the rich".
薩科齊想贏得右翼和中右翼的支持者,但他在法國民眾中卻不大受歡迎,人們不喜歡他粗魯生硬的行事風格,并給他冠上了一個難以擺脫的稱號"富人的總統".
He must also get around his lacklustre economic record in office – he promised to restore the values of work and reward, yet left France with many more unemployed – as well as judicial investigations into party financing relating to his 2012 presidential campaign, in which he denies any wrongdoing.
薩科齊執政期間法國經濟低迷,他曾保證增加人們的工作價值,恢復薪酬系統,結果卻造成法國失業人口增加,因此他還得想辦法擺脫這個壞名聲,除此之外他還身陷其2012年競選時有關政黨融資的司法調查,但他否認自己有不法行為.
英文來源：衛報
