Juppe and Sarkozy in the ring for primary

SEVEN candidates including expresident Nicolas Sarkozy were confirmed yesterday to contest the rightwing primary for France’s presidential election next year, officials said.

Sarkozy’s main rival will be popular former premier Alain Juppe, with the winner of November’s two-round contest expected to be in the driving seat to become president next May.

Also in the running are former prime minister Francois Fillon, the sole woman candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, former ministers Jean-Francois Cope and Bruno Le Maire and Christian Democratic Party leader Jean-Frederic Poisson.

The stakes are high with polls showing that the winner of a duel between the two leading candidates from the Republicans party, Sarkozy and Juppe, would be the clear favourite to prevail in May.

Following the confirmation of the candidates by election officials, two rounds of voting will be held on November 20 and 27 to select a rightwing nominee.

National identity and Islam have emerged as key themes in their contest, which has echoes of US Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign.

Sarkozy is a brash rightwinger and a divisive figure, while the experienced Juppe, the current mayor of Bordeaux, has styled himself as a unifying force.

President Francois Hollande is yet to confirm if he will stand for re-election as the Socialist party’s candidate in a run that would defy his historically low approval ratings.