French President May Make a Bid For a Third Term

PARIS — President Chirac may seek a third term, putting him on a collision course with the leading candidate of the governing party, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a Sarkozy adviser says.

"He'd like to run," a former Chirac cabinet minister, Patrick Devedjian, said in an interview in Paris yesterday. "Jacques Chirac can hope to be in position if his popularity rebounds."

A challenge may hurt Mr. Sarkozy's chances in the first round of elections and, if he survives, in a runoff. Their relationship has been strained since 1995 when Mr. Sarkozy backed Mr. Chirac rival Edouard Balladur for the presidency.