He now faces a second-round runoff against more moderate Alain Juppé, the mayor of Bordeaux who was prime minister under Jacques Chirac. Facebook Twitter Pinterest François Fillon after finishing first in the first round of the rightwing presidential primary. But I’m just a pragmatist.”When he became prime minister in 2007, Fillon caused friction with Sarkozy by declaring that France was almost bankrupt. After belittling Fillon as his “employee” when he was president, Sarkozy said he would now back Fillon in the final round of voting on 27 November. It was the first time the French right had held an open US-style primary race to choose its candidate and turnout was high.

Source: The Guardian November 20, 2016 22:03 UTC