Fillon triumphs to secure French presidential nomination

In France, meanwhile, the centre-right Republican party has now selected the more conservative contender François Fillon as its presidential candidate in the 2017 contest that could end as a head-to-head with the far-right Front National’s Marine Le Pen.

Ex-prime minister Fillon will now become a favourite to be France’s next leader after winning the US-style primary to pick the nominee of the Republicans party and its allies.

Francois Fillon delivers a speech in Paris, France, on November 27, 2016.

PARIS Francois Fillon’s wide-reaching plans to slash public spending and overhaul the French economy would “trigger chaos”, a top official of the far-right National Front said, welcoming him as an opponent due to their sharp differences on that issue.

“Although he is not for less Europe, Fillon doesn’t support the idea of more integration and is in favour of an intergovernmental European Union”, as opposed to an European Union led by its institutions, Pertusot said.

His conservative social views and appeal to rural voters as a devout Catholic from provincial France might also shield him from charges of being an out-of-touch metropolitan liberal.

Next year’s presidentials in the euro zone’s second-largest economy are shaping up to be another test of the strength of anti-establishment parties in Western countries, with French voters angry with stubbornly high unemployment and fearful after a wave of Islamist militant Attacks. When asked about their close relationship, Ronja Kempin, an expert on France at the Berlin-based German Institute for global and Security Affairs, gave two examples.

With virtually all the results counted, Fillon won Sunday’s run-off with almost 67 per cent of the vote against his moderate rival Alain Juppe who collected 32.6 per cent, BBC reported. Fillon insists “Russia poses no threat” to the West, while Juppe wants France to continue putting pressure on Putin on various fronts.

Sarkozy, who came in third out of seven candidates, lost his bid for the presidency, since the second round could feature only the top two candidates from the first round. Instead, he merely insists on the necessity of developing dialogue with Russian Federation on Syria and Ukraine issues.

With results from 96 percent of voting stations, organizers of the Republicans party primary said Fillon had 66.5 percent of votes and Juppe 33.5 percent.

The longtime No. 2 of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, this amateur racecar driver is now at the wheel of the conservative presidential campaign – representing his Republicans party and its allies from the center-right.

As a minister in 2003, Fillon stood down big street protests when he championed reforms extending the age at which people are entitled to retirement pension schemes.

“When you enter someone else’s house you do not take over”, Fillon said in a message to immigrants last week in a sign that he is not scared to adopt the nationalist language of his opponents. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen of the anti-immigration, Euroskeptic National Front is considered a strong candidate to win the first round.

In other words, Mr Fillon sees a crucial connection between France’s global prestige, especially in Europe, and its economic vitality.

Close aides of Hollande have said he will run despite his deep unpopularity.

The OECD estimates that near record-low borrowing rates mean France like other countries can afford some fiscal slack after years of sweating to rein in the finances.