François Fillon will be the French right-wing candidate in the presidential election

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Paris, 27 Nov 2016 (AFP) - François Fillon, 62, former prime minister of Nicolas Sarkozy, has clearly won the second round of the French right-wing primaries for the presidential election in 2017 - according to First partial results released on Sunday since Sunday (27).

After a surprising first-round victory, Fillon, who promotes a liberal economic project, appears with 68.7 percent of the vote, compared to 31.3 percent of his opponent, former prime minister Alain Juppé, as revealed by the calculation of 3,565 Of 10,228 polling stations.

Juppé has already congratulated the rival for the victory and announced his support for his candidacy.

"I congratulate François Filon for his ample victory. The primary has been in good condition and, as I had already promised, I will give my support to Francois (Fillon) this evening for my next presidential election," he said. , Wishing him success in May.

Between 4.2 and 4.6 million people went to the polls, according to estimates by the French press, to elect the candidate who - it is believed - could face Marine Le Pen, of the ultraconservative National Front, in an eventual second round of the Elections in May of next year.

A week ago, 4.3 million went to the polls for the first round of party primaries. Fillon obtained 44.1% of the votes against 28.5% of Juppé. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy was in a distant third place.