Chirac to Ditch Former Protege Sarkozy and Vote for Hollande

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Former President Jacques Chirac will switch sides and vote for the Socialist candidate Franois Hollande in the French presidential election this weekend, it was reported yesterday.

Mr Chirac's friend, Jean-Luc Barr said the former President would defy the tribal taboos of French politics and vote for the Socialist challenger on Sunday rather than his estranged former protg, President Nicolas Sarkozy.

It is believed that Mr Chirac's daughter Claude - who had a romantic entanglement with Mr Sarkozy many years ago - also intends to cross the right-left political divide and vote for the front- running Mr Hollande this weekend. So do several other members of …