Francois Fillon Becomes Center-Right Candidate in French Presidential Election

With the counting of votes in the French conservative primary elections, Francois Fillon declared victory, and his rival Alain Juppé congratulated him. Thus, the former Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 will be the center-right candidate for the 2017 presidential election. The primary elections, held for the first time in the history of the country, took place in over 10,000 polling stations, with reports indicating that between 4.2 to 4.6 million people participated. During the gradual announcement of the vote count, which initially indicated that Francois Fillon received nearly 70% of the votes, Alain Juppé accepted Fillon's victory and announced that he would support him in the upcoming election. Therefore, Fillon, who is a conservative figure and a proponent of free markets, promised economic reforms during his campaign and will compete in the upcoming presidential election in France, which will take place next spring, against Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the far-right National Front. The situation in the Socialist camp is still unclear, and current President Francois Hollande, who has significantly lost his popularity, will decide whether to remain in the race before the left-wing primary elections in less than two months. Meanwhile, Reuters noted signs of current Prime Minister Manuel Valls's interest in participating in the Socialist primaries. The news agency writes that based on polls, if next year's French election goes to a second round, no left-wing candidate is expected to reach the second round, thus Fillon will face Marine Le Pen, who has views opposing the European Union and immigration. According to these polls, he is expected to be able to defeat Le Pen. However, the patterns seen in the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump's victory in the United States indicate that the final election results may not align with the polling results. Reuters concluded that next year's French election will also become a test for anti-establishment views in Western countries. The agency also published an interview with Florian Philippot, an activist from the National Front, who stated that Fillon's victory could be good news for the party, as he would not be able to secure the support of the majority of French voters.