France's Hollande says Sarkozy wooing far-right

PARIS (Reuters) - French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande accused incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday of tacking further to the right in a gambit to win over supporters of National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

Sarkozy, who is expected to announce his candidacy for a second term early next week, repeated his opposition to gay marriage in an interview published on Saturday and is pushing for tighter access to unemployment benefits even as jobless claims have hit a 12-year high.

The president also insisted on limits to immigration in the interview with Le Figaro Magazine, published just days after one of his top ministers stirred up a political storm by saying that all civilizations were not equal.

"The terms that have been used, the words that he has used, really make one think that he wants to go looking for the voters who today are more leaning toward Marine Le Pen," said Hollande, who would beat Sarkozy by 10 percentage points in a May 6 runoff, according to an OpinionWay poll on Thursday.

"This is undoubtedly part of his strategy but it's bad for society," Hollande added in an interview with television station Canal Plus.

"The role of a president, right to the end, even as a candidate, is to unite a country, to raise its spirits and not to stigmatize people, or to play on their fears."

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a graphic of polls, click on: r.reuters.com/was36s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Recent polls have shown Le Pen fading as a threat to Sarkozy but if she lost in the first round on April 22, where polls suggest Hollande has a commanding lead, her supporters would be up for grabs for the deciding second round.

Hollande launched his own campaign late in January, with a substantial economic program based around eliminating tax exemptions for the wealthy and big companies to fund investment in small businesses, education and new jobs. He also launched an attack on the world of finance.

The Socialist candidate used Saturday's interview to play down the importance of Sarkozy's formal entry into the campaign, which the president's aides had long said would come as close as possible to the March 16 deadline as possible, but which now looks likely to come as early as this week.

"You know, I'm completely indifferent because nothing should distract me," he said. "He's already done plenty to use the state's resources to campaign up until now, if he wants to use them a bit more that's his business."

Hollande also said Sarkozy's government should have prevented automaker Renault's (RENA.PA) controversial move to open a factory in Tangiers.

The French government and Nissan are the two top shareholders in Renault, which has insisted that the low-cost facility in Morocco was needed to produce no-frills vehicles priced under 10,000 euros in their most basic version.

"When you're a major shareholder, you matter," said Hollande, who has pledged to squeeze tax breaks on the wealthy and big companies to fund investment in small businesses, education and new jobs.

He added that if victorious, he will set rules and demand "a strategy" for the automaker.

(Reporting By Yves Clarisse and Christian Plumb; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)