The main right wing party, Les Republicains, is to hold a primary election to choose a candidate for next year's Presidential election. To take place in November, the polls ahead of the primary have consistently put Alain Juppé in the lead. But the maire of Bordeaux has seen his lead cut to nothing in the latest poll. Now Nicholas Sarkozy has a 37% expected share of the vote, equal to his rival. No other candidate has more than 10%, but it will depend on how the supporters of those others vote in the second round. Current estimates suggest that Juppé will take 52% to Sarkozy's 48%, but the margin for error could easily change that.
Sarkozy seems to be aiming squarely for the right of the party, and hence of the electorate, in a bid to neutralise the Front National. Juppé is appealing to the more moderate centre and centre right of the party and may be more acceptable to left wing voters in the likely event of no left candidate in the final round of the Presidential elections.
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