French PM Manuel Valls announces 2017 presidential bid

By  Trend

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Monday that he is running to become the Socialist candidate in the 2017 presidential election in France.

"I am a candidate for the presidency of the republic," Valls said at his headquarters in the Parisian suburb of Evry, RT News reported.

"I want to give everything for France," he stressed, adding that he “cannot be Prime Minister while being a candidate," he said. The 54-year-old Spanish-born prime minister announced that his government will resign on Tuesday.

Valls wrote on Twitter that his candidacy “is also a revolt against the idea that the left is disqualified from this presidential election.”

Speculations about Valls joining the race began last week after President Francois Hollande said that he will not be running for a second term.

The French Socialist Party is to hold a two-round primary in January to choose its presidential candidate.

The first round of the French presidential vote is scheduled for April 23 next year with a run-off on May 7.