Fillon is up against another former prime minister, Alain Juppe, who has a week to turn around his momentum-sapped campaign and win over the supporters of the other candidates. But with Fillon only six points short of the 50 percent threshold needed in the first round and Sarkozy on his side, it looks a tall order for Juppe. A snap poll by Opinionway showed Fillon winning next Sunday's head-to-head contest with 56 percent of support. Fillon and Juppe have clashed most forcefully over Fillon's proposals to slash the cost of government, most notably by axing 500,000 public sector jobs over five years. Juppe, who had led the polls for weeks, last week dismissed Fillon's proposal for public sector job cuts as impossible, saying a gentler reduction was needed.

Source: bd News24 November 21, 2016 06:49 UTC