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Survey says France's Fillon likely to win conservative primary

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is likely to win the right-center party's primary run-off on Sunday, according to results of an ifop-Fiducial poll released on Wednesday.

Fillon would win the conservative nomination for 2017 presidential election with 65 percent of votes versus 35 percent for his rival Alain Juppe, a moderate politician who has long been the poll's favorite, according to the survey.

Some 75 percent of Les Republicains party supporters will back Fillon, and 84 percent of those of the far-right National Front party who will take part in the vote say they will also support the 61-year politician, it added.

As for Juppe, 83 percent of left-wing voters and 66 percent of the centrist party will credit the 71-year-old former prime minister to win the conservative ticket for the upcoming presidential election.

On Sunday last week, Fillon finished first out of seven contenders in the first round of the conservative primary, making a surprise lead in the competition with 44.1 percent of the vote against Juppe's 28.5 percent.

With economically liberal ideas, Fillon pledges more strict measures to revive the Europe's second largest power. He promises to slash 500,000 public posts, squeeze public spending and change the 35-hour working week to make the French working longer. Endit