UPDATE - France: Fillon, Juppe lead in presidential primary

UPDATES WITH CANDIDATES' STATEMENTS, LATEST RESULTS, BACKGROUND ON FILLON, JUPPE

By Hajer M’tiri

PARIS (AA) – Former French prime ministers Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe are set to face each other in a run-off vote next week to become the center-right candidate for next year’s presidential election following latest primary results released early Monday.

Results from 9,437 of 10,229 polling stations show Fillon leading with 44 percent of the vote and Juppe in second place with 28 percent as of 2 a.m. (0100GMT).

Former president and leader of the Les Republicains party, Nicolas Sarkozy, is out of the race in third place with 20 percent.

"I feel no bitterness, no sadness,” Sarkozy said at a press conference in which he conceded.

As he congratulated Fillon and Juppe, he said he backs Fillon in the run-off but told supporters to make up their own minds but to never vote for extremists.

Seven candidates vied for the right and center-right nomination but recent polls showed Juppe, Sarkozy and Fillon running neck and neck.

Juppe, 71, who is the center-right mayor of Bordeaux and former prime minister under Jacques Chirac, vowed in a statement to keep up the fight ahead of next week's vote, despite Fillon's significant lead in the first round.

“I believe that, more than ever, the people of France need to come together to turn the page on a disastrous five-year plan that has brought down our country and to block the Front National,” he added.

Juppe campaigned for a French "happy identity", accusing Sarkozy of adopting far-right policies and declaring, "I will always refuse to exploit fear and appeal to base instincts."

He said he would not try to change or repeal the Socialist government's same-sex marriage law but would repeal payment of income tax at source that is currently making its way through parliament.

Fillon thanked supporters and said the high turnout demonstrates the French want to be involved in the future of their country.

“I am carried by those who want to straighten out France and retain a language of truth,” he said. “We must break with these five years of failure.” He also paid homage to candidates who did not make it to the second round, Sarkozy in particular.

"Defeat should humiliate no one, and we will need everyone" in the expected battle between the winner of next week's second round and far right leader Marine le Pen in next year's presidential election, he said.

The 62-year-old Paris MP was prime minister under Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012. He is a social conservative and Catholic who voted against same-sex marriage when it was introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande in defense of Christian family values.

During his campaign, Fillon, an admirer of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, presented the most radical pro-business reform program -- vowing to cut a staggering 500,000 public sector jobs over five years. In ministerial jobs under Chirac, he built a reputation as a compromise-seeker when dealing with unions.

Fillon told the Financial Times last week he is determined to drop the soft approach after fully grasping the fragility of France’s finances.

“My program is not ideological,” he said, estimating it would reduce public spending from 57 to 49 percent of gross domestic product. “It remains socialist,” he added.

“At some point, unions have to feel there’s determination and strong will,” Fillon told the British newspaper. “There might be a showdown but the government must prepare for it.”

He surged in the polls in the final weeks of the campaign after publishing a book on the fight against radical Islam, telling French daily Le Figaro, “there is no religious problems in France. There is a problem with Islam.”

He said the solution was not to target law-abiding Muslims but to focus on fundamentalism.

Fillon also made controversial comments regarding colonialism in Africa when he said in August that France should not “be blamed just for wanting to share and spread its culture to the people of Africa“.

The former prime minister has called for a rapprochement with the Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Syria. After the U.S. presidential election, he welcomed a new alliance between Putin and Donald Trump.

Asked early in the campaign whether France should cooperate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to fight Daesh, he said France should unite with all possible forces, “democratic or not”.

The primary was open to all registered on the electoral roll and voters cast ballots for a €2 fee after signing a charter of values “to share the republican values of the right and center”.

The first round saw a historic turnout in which nearly 4 million voters participated, according to the organizing committee. The run-off poll is planned to take place on Nov. 27.

This is the first time the French right has organized an open primary. The Socialists held their first in 2011 and will organize a second in January.

The two-round presidential election will be held April 23 and May 7.