Hello Dear Viewers,
You know about, PARIS French conservative voters turned out en masse on Sunday to choose their candidate for next year's presidential election in a tight primary race whose winner is seen as likely to make the Elysee Palace in 2017.
Sunday's primary vote will produce two candidates for a Nov. 27 run-off, with the foremost candidates being two former prime ministers, Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon, and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. The result was expected late on Sunday.
With the French left in disarray under the deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande, pollsters suggest that the center-right nominee to emerge after the head-to-head will defeat the National Front's eurosceptic, anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen in the final round of the election next May.
"We're really tired of Hollande. We need a change," voter Marion, a lawyer, said outside a polling station in central Paris.
Juppe, a moderate conservative campaigning on an inclusive, "happy identity" platform, had for months appeared on track to win the nomination of the Les Republicains party and its center-right allies.
But over the past week the contest has been transformed into a tight race between Juppe, Sarkozy and Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.
Juppe, whom Sarkozy has for weeks accused of being held "hostage" by centrist allies, lost his lead in opinion polls to his rivals to the right on the political spectrum. Sarkozy has sought to tap into populist sentiment while Fillon is proposing tough measures to shake up the economy.
A Harris Interactive opinion poll on Sunday showed a majority of those surveyed considered Fillon and Juppe had fought the best campaign.
The race for the presidency is shaping up as new tests of strength between weakened mainstream parties and rising populist forces.
Polls show that whoever wins the conservative ticket should beat Le Pen, because she needs a 50 percent vote to become president and her party has never polled much more than 30 percent.
But after Britain's vote to quit the European Union and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win this year, few are prepared to write off her chances entirely.
Should Sarkozy or Fillon emerge as Le Pen's conservative opponent, polls and analysts suggest however that her electoral chances could be higher than if she faces Juppe, who is seen as having a wider voter appeal than his two rivals.
HIGH TURNOUT
A lot could hinge on turnout, with polls saying a high level would favor Juppe.
More than 2.5 million votes had been cast by 1700 local time according to a count conducted in 70 percent of the more than 10,000 polling stations.
Thierry Solere, president of the committee organizing the vote, called that a "considerable turnout" with two hours still left to vote and queues visible at a number of Paris polling stations.
There are other uncertainties in Sunday's vote, in which four more candidates, whom polls forecast have no chance of winning, also took part.
It is the first center-right primary to be held in France, and anyone who pays 2 euros ($2.12) and signs a form showing support for the party's values can take part.
That means voting patterns are to some extent untested, leaving potential for tactical voting by left and far-right supporters as well.
"I am not at all on the Right, I'm very much on the Left and I really want to block Sarkozy and I know that the Left won't get to the second round (of the presidential election) so I just want to stop Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen," one voter, Emeline, said. Thanks.
You know about, PARIS French conservative voters turned out en masse on Sunday to choose their candidate for next year's presidential election in a tight primary race whose winner is seen as likely to make the Elysee Palace in 2017.
Sunday's primary vote will produce two candidates for a Nov. 27 run-off, with the foremost candidates being two former prime ministers, Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon, and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. The result was expected late on Sunday.
With the French left in disarray under the deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande, pollsters suggest that the center-right nominee to emerge after the head-to-head will defeat the National Front's eurosceptic, anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen in the final round of the election next May.
"We're really tired of Hollande. We need a change," voter Marion, a lawyer, said outside a polling station in central Paris.
Juppe, a moderate conservative campaigning on an inclusive, "happy identity" platform, had for months appeared on track to win the nomination of the Les Republicains party and its center-right allies.
But over the past week the contest has been transformed into a tight race between Juppe, Sarkozy and Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.
Juppe, whom Sarkozy has for weeks accused of being held "hostage" by centrist allies, lost his lead in opinion polls to his rivals to the right on the political spectrum. Sarkozy has sought to tap into populist sentiment while Fillon is proposing tough measures to shake up the economy.
A Harris Interactive opinion poll on Sunday showed a majority of those surveyed considered Fillon and Juppe had fought the best campaign.
The race for the presidency is shaping up as new tests of strength between weakened mainstream parties and rising populist forces.
Polls show that whoever wins the conservative ticket should beat Le Pen, because she needs a 50 percent vote to become president and her party has never polled much more than 30 percent.
But after Britain's vote to quit the European Union and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win this year, few are prepared to write off her chances entirely.
Should Sarkozy or Fillon emerge as Le Pen's conservative opponent, polls and analysts suggest however that her electoral chances could be higher than if she faces Juppe, who is seen as having a wider voter appeal than his two rivals.
HIGH TURNOUT
A lot could hinge on turnout, with polls saying a high level would favor Juppe.
More than 2.5 million votes had been cast by 1700 local time according to a count conducted in 70 percent of the more than 10,000 polling stations.
Thierry Solere, president of the committee organizing the vote, called that a "considerable turnout" with two hours still left to vote and queues visible at a number of Paris polling stations.
There are other uncertainties in Sunday's vote, in which four more candidates, whom polls forecast have no chance of winning, also took part.
It is the first center-right primary to be held in France, and anyone who pays 2 euros ($2.12) and signs a form showing support for the party's values can take part.
That means voting patterns are to some extent untested, leaving potential for tactical voting by left and far-right supporters as well.
"I am not at all on the Right, I'm very much on the Left and I really want to block Sarkozy and I know that the Left won't get to the second round (of the presidential election) so I just want to stop Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen," one voter, Emeline, said. Thanks.
