简体中文
Former prime minister Francois Fillon is favourite to become the French centre-right's presidential candidate after a voting upset that puts him in pole position for a showdown with far right leader Marine Le Pen in next year's election.
Fillon, who has said he will cut public sector jobs and rein in government spending, won 44 percent of votes in Sunday's first-round of voting for the centre-right's nomination. He faces a second-round vote against another former prime minister, Alain Juppe, who trailed him by 15 percentage points.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy came third and, after being eliminated, endorsed Fillon for the second-round vote next Sunday.
The outcome adds to uncertainty about the result of next year's presidential election, likely to be decided in a runoff against the anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Front leader Le Pen in May. There is, though, no clear evidence Fillon would fare worse against her than would Juppe.
The only near certainty is that the deeply divided ruling Socialist Party is headed for a drubbing. Even so, some senior left-wingers expressed optimism that an eventual defeat for Juppe would open a space for them in the centre.
The surprisingly big lead hands Fillon, 62, a strong advantage in the runoff. An admirer of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he is probably the closest thing France has to an economic liberal and social conservative.
Although Fillon's triumph on Sunday was a surprise, opinion pollsters had said he made a late surge in campaigning, and several stalwarts from the conservative Les Republicains party threw their weight behind him after his first-round success.
"I will vote for Francois Fillon because it is he who will best defend the values of the right," said party president Laurent Wauquiez, a close Sarkozy ally.
A snap poll by Opinionway after Sunday's results showed Fillon winning the head-to-head contest against Juppe with 56 percent of support.
With the French left in turmoil, the opinion polls indicate that whoever becomes the centre-right challenger is likely to face Le Pen in May's presidential election runoff.
The polls have suggested Le Pen has only a remote chance of winning that runoff but the more centrist Juppe, 71, had been seen as the best placed candidate to defeat her in a two-horse race.
(REUTERS)
