France's Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who faces elimination in the first round of the presidential election, says he will retire from politics after the final round on 5 May.
He described exit poll predictions that he would be beaten into third place by President Jacques Chirac and extreme right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen as a thunderbolt. He said he assumed full responsibility for his apparent defeat.
Mr Jospin, who is 64, also warned against the danger posed by Le Pen's surprise victory, which he said was a very worrying sign for France and for French democracy.
