Three-way race as French right holds presidential primary

PARIS: France’s right-wing presidential hopefuls kick off their nominating contest yesterday as a sudden tightening of the race cast doubt on ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s chances of regaining the Elysee Palace.

A late surge by the thirdplaced Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Sarkozy, catapulted him into pole position for the first- round primary vote.

A voter survey on Friday gave 62-year- old Fillon 30 percent to 29 percent for both Sarkozy, 61, and Alain Juppe, 71, also a former prime minister who had been the frontrunner for the past two months.

The US- style primary is the first such contest by the French right, organised partly in response to the rise of the far-right National Front (FN) following the massive influx of migrants into Europe and the devastating series of jihadist attacks in France.

The outcome is crucial because with the French left divided, the nominee who emerges from a Nov 27 runoff is tipped to go on to take the presidency in May after besting FN leader Marine Le Pen.

Juppe’s strategy of playing the moderate against the fiery Sarkozy and the reform-minded Fillon appears to be backfiring.

“We were expecting a duel but in the end a three-way contest has emerged,” political scientist Jerome Jaffre said in Le Figaro newspaper on Thursday.

A final TV debate of the seven candidates on Thursday produced no clear winner, although viewers polled afterwards said Fillon put in the strongest performance.

The brash Sarkozy angrily ducked a question about fresh claims that he received millions in funding from the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi towards his 2007 campaign.

The case is one of several investigations that have dogged Sarkozy since he left office in 2012, losing to the Socialist Francois Hollande following what was dubbed a “bling-bling” presidency because of his flashy lifestyle. — AFP