In France’s presidential primary election for the mainstream conservative party, Alain Juppé conceded defeat to Francois Fillon. The 71-year-old Juppé congratulated Fillon, 62, on a “wide victory.” The election results showed Juppé winning 32 percent of the vote compared to Fillon’s 68 percent. Fillon had surged “in popularity in recent weeks over longtime favorite” Juppé. Fillon, whose policies fall further to the right than those of Juppé, will face candidates from the left and the extreme right in the French presidential election next May. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reports, “With the left in disarray and the far right still too marginal, analysts say the winner of the conservative primary, Fillon, will likely become the next French president.”
Francois Fillon Wins France’s Conservative Presidential Primary
