PARIS, March 21 (Xinhua) ¨C French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday announced in a televised speech that Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy will resign from the government on March 26 to "devote himself fully" to the presidential elections.

    "With the prime minister, I met the Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy this morning, and he informed us of his wish to leave the government next Monday in order to devote himself fully to the presidential campaign, " Chirac said.

    "I accepted," he added.

    However, Chirac did not mention the nomination of Sarkozy's successor, which will be announced on Monday when Sarkozy departs from the interior ministry.

    Sarkozy, a presidential candidate with a narrow lead in recent opinion polls, has been criticized for unfairly using his powerful and high-profile government post to campaign.

    Critics have alleged that he has used his powers to spy on the camp of Socialist rival Segolene Royal, but the minister has denied.