Pekris and Siuti received the most votes in their party’s internal primaries. Other candidates have been disqualified, including internationally renowned former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (70). Meanwhile, he indicated on Twitter that he is proud of his campaign and that he supports Pécresse. “I think she’s the best prepared to win the presidential election,” she said. Two other disqualified candidates indicated that their preference would go to Pecres.
The two politicians will go into a second round as the winners, with a result expected on Saturday afternoon. Pekris is a regional chief executive and the only woman to run in the elections, while Siyoti is a member of Parliament and is considered part of the right wing of the party.
Both received about a quarter of the votes in the first round. The first round ran from Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon, via online voting. A total of 140,000 fighters managed to cast their votes.
Les Républicains was formerly known as the UMP and has handed over presidents such as Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. The party’s previous presidential candidate was François Fillon. It started as a favourite, but has seen its popularity evaporate due to a series of scandals. French media reported that his wife had earned a total of €612,000 working as a parliamentary assistant when in reality she had not. end of november France’s public prosecutor has demanded five years in prison, including one, against Fillion.
