Asked in a TV interview whether he would quit, Fillon said: “My answer is ‘no’. Most surveys show far-right leader Marine Le Pen and 39-year-old centrist Emmanuel Macron would progress to the runoff on May 7. The survey of 1,027 people was carried out on March 2-4 and therefore before Fillon’s Paris speech. Juppe, who is more centrist than Fillon, was given a suspended jail sentence in 2004 over a party funding scandal. Polls currently show however that Le Pen would be beaten in the runoff by either Macron or the conservative candidate.

Source: New Strait Times March 06, 2017 00:11 UTC