DIGNITY, liberty and authority. With this Gaullist trinity at the centre of his campaign, François Fillon has secured the primary nomination of the French centre-right Republicans for next year’s presidential election. With over 95% of the vote counted he had won a resounding 67% of the votes, to 33% for his run-off opponent, Alain Juppé. “Now,” declared Mr Fillon in his sober victory speech, “I need to convince the whole country.”
It was a stunning victory by one former prime minister over another. Barely a month ago, polls showed Mr Fillon trailing in fourth place. But his promises to restore respect to the presidency, freedom to the economy and firmness to social policy resonated with the country’s traditional centre-right, which turned out en masse to make sure that his name would be the one on the presidential ballot next year.
Mr Fillon’s nomination represents both a form of reassurance for the centre-right, and a massive gamble. Reassurance because he is in tune with a provincial, conservative Catholic part of the electorate that feels that the French presidency has been damaged over the past decade—first by Nicolas...Continue reading
Souce: Europe http://ift.tt/2fpJIkp
EmoticonEmoticon