Fillon wins
France's conservative presidential primary, by Sylvie Corbet and Angela
Charlton, AP, 11/27/16
PARIS (AP) — Francois
Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary Sunday after
promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and
Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching
populism.
"President!
President!" chanted the former prime minister's supporters as he declared
victory over Alain Juppe in a nationwide runoff election.
Polls suggest the
sober, authoritative Fillon, 62, would have a strong chance of winning the
French presidency in the April-May election, amid widespread frustration with
France's current Socialist leadership.
Fillon, who was prime
minister from 2007-2012 under ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, enjoyed a surprise
surge in popularity in recent weeks. A rise in nationalist sentiment across Europe
may have favored his strict conservative positions over Juppe's more centrist
stance.
France needs "a
complete change of software," Fillon said, promising in his victory speech
to defend "French values."
Among his promises:
slash public spending, cap immigration, support traditional family values and
reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Juppe, 71,
congratulated Fillon on his "wide victory." During the primary
campaign, he expressed similar ideas as his rival on the French economy, but
tried to rally conservatives around a more tolerant attitude toward France's
ethnic, religious and social diversity.
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. More than 4 million of
France's 44 million voters took part, which was considered a good turnout given
that it was the conservatives' first experiment with a primary.
Fillon's toughest
challenge ahead is likely to be far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Le Pen,
candidate of her National Front party, is running an anti-establishment
campaign that particularly targets immigrants, France's Muslim minority, and
the European Union.
Socialist President
Francois Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will
seek re-election, but the French left has been deeply weakened by his extreme
unpopularity. A wild card is outsider candidate Emmanuel Macron, Hollande's
former economy minister, who is leading a centrist campaign.
Fillon walked a careful
line Sunday, stressing the need for "authority of the state" but also
insisting, "No one should feel excluded from a society that I want to see
more just and with more solidarity."
If elected next year,
he pledges to hold a referendum on a quota system for immigrants to reduce
legal immigration "to a minimum," and to push for stronger controls
at Europe's borders.
In a country still
rattled by a string of deadly Islamic State group attacks, Fillon wants to
prohibit French jihadists from returning home. He recently published a book
called "Conquering Islamic Totalitarianism."
A practicing Catholic
with a British wife of 36 years and five children, Fillon pledges to weaken
adoption rights for same-sex couples. Yet he has said he wouldn't scrap a 2013
law allowing same-sex marriage.
His most dramatic
proposals concern France's long-stagnant economy, beset by chronic 10 percent
unemployment.
He wants to cut taxes
on businesses, slash public spending by 110 billion euros ($116 billion) and
reduce the number of public servants. He would also raise the retirement age
from 62 to 65, extend the workweek beyond 35 hours, and ease France's strict
labor rules in order to boost job hiring.
Soccer agent Cherif
Diallo said it was Fillon's economic program that won his vote.
"In life, you
must sacrifice in order to obtain good results. The program of Francois Fillon
is radical as his adversaries say, but it's a necessity in order to get the
country in order," Diallo said.
While he's seen as
lacking charisma, Fillon's supporters like him because they regard him as
experienced and well-qualified for France's top job.
Besides serving as
prime minister, he's been a cabinet minister six times and spent years as a
lawmaker representing his hometown of Le Mans in western France, home to the
famed 24 of Le Mans auto race.
Both Fillon and
Juppe, who campaigned on similar economic platforms, are high-profile leaders
of the Republicans party who knocked Sarkozy — their former boss — out of the
primary's first round of voting a week ago. Sarkozy then threw his weight
behind Fillon.
Sunday's runoff came
after a bruising and highly adversarial end phase to the months-long primary
contest, an American-style effort to end party infighting and bolster support
for the party's nominee. The conservatives previously chose their candidate
internally.
Fillon has said he
wants to drop sanctions against Russia over its aggressive actions in Ukraine
and partner with Russia in the fight against Islamic State extremists. Fillon
insists "Russia poses no threat" to the West.
All French citizens
over 18 whether they are members of the Republicans party or not were eligible
to vote in the primary, if they paid 2 euros in fees and signed a pledge
stating they "share the republican values of the right and the center.
Thomas Adamson and
Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris contributed to this report.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/french-conservatives-voting-choose-presidential-nominee-061140328.html
Although Le
Pen lost the primary, she is the anti-immigration advocate who will keep the
pressure up.
France's Le
Pen: If I'm elected, we'll hold vote on leaving EU, by Jessie Hellmann 9/3/16
A French right-wing
leader is promising a nationwide referendum on whether the country should leave
or remain in the European Union if she gets elected.
Marine Le Pen, the
leader of France's anti-immigration National Front, on Saturday said she would
hold an EU referendum if elected president next spring, according to The Associated Press.
Le Pen also denounced
"mass immigration" and called Islamism "the new totalitarianism
of the 21st century."
The United Kingdom
held a similar referendum this summer, with the majority of voters voting to
leave the EU. The country has not yet begun the process of the so-called
Brexit.
155
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/294399-frances-le-pen-if-im-elected-well-hold-vote-on-leaving-eu
No comments:
Post a Comment