French opposition leader vote ends in confusion

19/11/12 03:56 CET

world news

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The result of the tightly-fought contest to choose the next leader of France’s centre-right opposition party the UMP remains unclear with both sides claiming to have won.

Jean-Francois Copé, a follower of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, announced his victory to reporters at around 2230 on Sunday night.

But, twenty minutes later, former Prime Minister Francois Fillon claimed that he was in the lead.
Fillon says he is waiting for the official results from the internal voting commission.

The confusion followed several hours during which both camps claimed there had been irregularities in the voting process.

More about: France, French politics

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