French Socialist wants Chirac's post, not palace

Socialist Jack Lang said he would remain a Frenchman like any other if he was elected next year, vowing to add a more modest touch to what had become a "sacrilegious" post under conservative President Jacques Chirac.

"I will live like a normal citizen," said Lang, sitting in his large office by the Place des Vosges square, one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Paris, where the former culture minister also has an apartment.

"I will not live in the Elysee Palace. I will stay at my place ... The president must be accessible, available. He should lead a simple life," he said.

Lang earned himself a name in France for creating Paris's annual Fete de la Musique festival in 1982. In the 1980s, he was culture minister when the late Socialist President Francois Mitterrand undertook in his 'Grands Travaux' of major urban works, including the celebrated glass pyramids at the historic Louvre museum.

The 66-year-old Lang is one of around half a dozen so-called Socialist "elephants" -- senior male presidential hopefuls who have defended their position in the party for decades, but who have recently been eclipsed by a female relative newcomer.

Half of all Socialist voters want regional leader Segolene Royal to stand in next year's poll, a recent Ifop survey showed, compared to 14 percent preferring former prime minister Lionel Jospin, and only 9 percent going for Lang.

But the tanned Lang, who was born into a well-off family from eastern France and developed an early passion for theatre, said opinion surveys should be read with caution. He noted pollsters had also been unable to predict the outcome of the last presidential election in 2002.

"My chances aren't slim," he said.

The Socialists are still struggling to overcome their humiliating defeat in the 2002 poll, when far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen forced their candidate Jospin out of the runoff against conservative Chirac.

A WOMAN AMID ELEPHANTS
In the Socialists' 2007 electoral programme, which Lang said included many of his proposals, the party has vowed to raise the minimum wage, halve the unemployment rate and allow gay couples to get married and adopt children.