Ex-PM Juppe favorite to win French primaries, poll suggestsNovember 12, 2016 - 15:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Former prime minister Alain Juppe remains front-runner to win the center-right's nomination for France's 2017 presidential election in spite of losing some ground, a poll said on Friday, November 11, Reuters reports. The Odoxa poll for France Info radio station said Juppe was seen winning 36 percent of votes in the first round of primaries on Nov. 20, although this was seven percentage points down on a month ago. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in second place with 26 percent, a score that was unchanged from a month ago, while the score for Francois Fillon, another former prime minister, increased by nine percentage points to 20 percent. The top two from this first round of voting go through to a second round, unless one of the candidates gets more than 50 percent in the first. In the second round, the Odoxa poll sees Juppe winning with 58 percent versus an expected 42 percent for Sarkozy - although Juppe's second-round score was again down seven percentage points from last month. The winner of the primaries has a good chance of prevailing in the presidential election due in April and May 2017, given Socialist President Francois Hollande's unpopularity and divisions among left-wing candidates. Polls suggest far-right leader Marine Le Pen will make the second round run-off, and Donald Trump's shock victory in the U.S. presidential election has led prominent French politicians to warn she could win unless her mainstream rivals get their act together. Photo: AFP/Getty Images Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |