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.
有史以来第一次法国的右派和中间派公开对抗来角逐出一位候选人.选民名册上的人都可以参加投票,只需要交2欧元（即1.72英镑）外加签署一份坚持"右派和中间派的价值观"的承诺书就可以了.在11月20日和27日这两轮投票中,会有多达三至四百万的民众参与.
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.
萨科齐是一位挑战者,但在右派党内初选中并不具有优势.法国当下呼声最高的政客当属波尔多市市长、在萨科齐任期担任外交部长的前总理阿兰·朱佩,在民意调查中他也一路领先.
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.
朱佩现年71岁,其公众形象已与往昔大有不同.二十年前,他在养老金政策上的改动导致两百万民众上街抗议,他也因此成为现代最受厌恶的总理.而如今他却摇身一变成为沉着老练的政治家,作风稳健不极端,推行利商结构改革,在国家身份问题上尽量减少对立.
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.
过去19个月里,伊斯兰极端组织在法国发动的多起恐怖袭击导致超过230人死亡,萨科齐坚信当下民众的恐慌和焦虑情绪亟待一个有权威的人来化解,比如说他自己.
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".
萨科齐想赢得右翼和中右翼的支持者,但他在法国民众中却不大受欢迎,人们不喜欢他粗鲁生硬的行事风格,并给他冠上了一个难以摆脱的称号"富人的总统".
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.
萨科齐执政期间法国经济低迷,他曾保证增加人们的工作价值,恢复薪酬系统,结果却造成法国失业人口增加,因此他还得想办法摆脱这个坏名声,除此之外他还身陷其2012年竞选时有关政党融资的司法调查,但他否认自己有不法行为.
英文来源：卫报
