A longtime euroskeptic and former member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, Dupont-Aignan portrays himself as the only mainstream politician to advocate a French exit from the euro and a return of protectionism, an agenda he shares with Marine Le Pen’s far-right Front National.

“France needs to get out of the euro. It is making jobs disappear and it is ruining us,” he said.

As the eurozone’s debt crisis has intensified, the French press has quoted him widely.

“The euro crisis serves me well. It is beginning to open French people’s eyes,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Scoring one to two percent in polls, Dupont-Aignan is one of several “little candidates,” as French daily newspaper Liberation calls them. But little contenders can have a big impact.

In 2002, left-wing euroskeptic Jean-Pierre Chevenement won five percent of the vote at the expense of socialist Lionel Jospin. That allowed Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to break through to the second round against Jacques Chirac.

Sarkozy, Marine Le Pen and Socialist Party (PS) challengers are currently neck-and-neck in polls for the April 22 first round. A succesful Dupont-Aignan campaign could take votes away from Le Pen or Sarkozy, stopping them from reaching the May 6 second round if the race is tight.

Dupont-Aignan said planned talks about the euro zone debt crisis between Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday were futile.

He also said the idea of creating common euro-area bonds, seen by some analysts as a step that could help restore market confidence in Europe’s ability to eventually resolve the debt crisis, was “madness.”

“It would put a premium on political and financial irresponsibility,” he said.

Dupont-Aignan blasted ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet for a letter in which the ECB chief, according to sources, asked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for accelerated reforms.

Italy announced plans last week to step up reforms.

The letter was seen as putting pressure on Rome to act to reduce its large debt burden in return for which the ECB has stepped in to buy Italian government bonds in the past week.

“Some 20 unelected people in the ECB and the European Commission are making the big decisions. They are running Europe into the wall and are destroying democracy,” he said.

Dupont-Aignan said the main reason for the euro debt crisis was the fact that an overvalued euro currency encouraged a shift of jobs to China.

“For years our government has masked the delocalization of jobs by increasing the debt,” he said.

The US and some European policymakers accuse China of keeping its yuan currency artificially low, giving China an unfair advantage in world trade.

He added that Europe could only fight the yuan undervaluation by bringing back “a reasonable form of protectionism.”

Dupont-Aignan, founder of the tiny “Debout la Republique” party, also argued that a single currency favored the most productive euro zone countries and weakened the others.

“The single currency is a catastrophe for Europe because it destroys all countries that are not as competitive as Germany.”

Sarkozy’s UMP has taken over parts of the Front National’s populist security and immigration rhetoric. But it has so far shown no signs of picking up the Front’s economic program — euro exit and protectionism.

“At the moment, parties like the PS and the UMP cannot criticize the euro, as they would lose credibility to govern,” said Stephane Rozes, head of the political consultancy Cap.

Dupont-Aignan has no such worries. He is after voters who are disenchanted with UMP and PS but not prepared to vote for the far right FN.

“I propose a radical alternative, without being extreme right,” he said.

“Otherwise, Le Pen is the only other option.”