Thatcherite victor vows sharp shock for France
FRANCE: A Thatcherite reformer is in pole position to become the next president of France after a landslide victory in his party’s primary election during which he pledged to sack 500,000 civil servants.
Francois Fillon, 62, a former prime minister, promised the most radical reforms in modern French history after earning the right to stand as the Republicans party candidate in the presidential election in April.
Speaking to his supporters after sweeping to victory over Alain Juppe, 71, his more consensual challenger, Fillon vowed to breathe new hope into a country that he said could no longer tolerate its loss of prestige.
His conservative programme is now viewed as the main bulwark against the extremism threatening France and Europe in the form of Marine Le Pen, the National Front leader.
Polling indicates that he will defeat her, but after the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory, she is confident that she can overturn the odds. President Francois Hollande, who has hinted that he may run for a second term next year, has suffered the worst approval ratings since World War II and his Socialist Party appears to be on course for defeat.
Le Pen immediately struck out at Fillon, claiming that he lacked the courage to fight Islamist terrorism, would abandon French sovereignty to Brussels and was soft on sexual deviancy because he had failed to dismiss a paedophile minister.
Her attack, however, was lost on Fillon’s supporters, who cheered, and sung La Marseillaise as officials announced that he had won the votes of almost 70 per cent of the 4.5 million or so people who had participated.
The victory is so clear that he will have no trouble uniting the French centre right. minutes after he had won, he shook hands with Juppe. As a Catholic, he was backed by opponents of gay marriage and abortion.
His campaign headquarters resonated to chants of ‘‘Fillon, president’’. He said that he had recorded a victory of substance over style. He committed in his manifesto to cut spending on the public sector by €100 billion (NZ$150B) over five years.
‘‘France cannot stand its decline,’’ he said. ‘‘France wants the truth and France wants acts.’’ – The Times