Sarkozy hints at return to public life Nicolas Sarkozy, who pledged to return to ordinary life as a "Frenchman among the French" after he was ousted from the presidency in May, has broken 10 months of silence to say that he may be forced to return to the country's service. The former centre-right UMP politician, who suffered the indignity of being the only one-term president in 30 years, kept up the guessing game about an eventual return to public life in remarks to be published on Thursday. "I have no desire to return to the world of politics, which I find a deadly headache," he said in quotations published by Valeurs Actuelles, the right-leaning French weekly. "Unfortunately, there will be a moment when it won't even be a question of "do you want to" but "do you have a choice?" [to come back into public life]. It won't be a glorious moment for France. In the eight-page spread, Mr Sarkozy, who was the driving force behind the 2011 Franco-British intervention in Libya, was also critical of Socialist President François Hollande's military action in Mali, saying: "The rule is you never go into a country that does not have a government." A fourth French soldier was killed in Mali on Wednesday, increasing the pressure on Mr Hollande to formulate an exit strategy while ensuring political stability. France intervened militarily in January to halt the advance of Islamist extremist fighters on Mali's capital. Mr Sarkozy appears to base his possible resurgence on an implied failure by Mr Hollande to reform the economy and a policy vacuum due to infighting on the right. If the country were to be caught between "the extremism of the left and of the right," he said: "I could not continue to say to myself, "I'm happy, I take my daughter to school and I go to conferences around the world. At that moment I would effectively be obliged to step forward. Not by desire. But by duty. Only because it's about France. Yet he said a return would not be via politics but through "international credibility" and "powerful economic initiatives," without further elaborating. I could not continue to say to myself, "I'm happy, I take my daughter to school and I go to conferences around the world. Only because it's about France Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president Business people close to Mr Sarkozy earlier this year were working on a large private equity project for the former president, involving backing from Qatari funds. Jean-Marc Ayrault, prime minister, hit back at Mr Sarkozy's economic record, saying the country's difficulties "are not there simply by chance." François Fillon, Mr Sarkozy's former prime minister, who has been locked in a battle with Jean-François Copé, for leadership of the UMP, said: "When one loses elections, we all face the same question - to rethink our policies." The subject of Mr Sarkozy's putative return "is like a [television] series that will occupy and spur political commentary for weeks and months," he said Since his election defeat, Mr Sarkozy has kept a low-profile with third wife, Carla Bruni, the model turned singer, and their infant daughter. Known as the "bling-bling" president and portrayed as a friend of the rich and famous, Mr Sarkozy put his dislike of political life down to the treatment meted out to him and his wife. "She was not allowed to sing for five years," he said. However, popular support for Mr Sarkozy appears to have grown. According to an Ifop survey published on Wednesday, 56 per cent of UMP supporters want Mr Sarkozy to stand in the 2017 presidential elections, far ahead of second-place Mr Fillon with 17 per cent. Additional reporting by Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in London