Paris: French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon tried to win over party critics at a meeting yesterday at a time when polls show him losing some momentum due to what some say is too radical an economic reform programme.
Surveys suggest Fillon will win the election by a comfortable margin, but recent polls have shown his share of vote in the first round falling. Some senior members of his Republicans party, most often allies of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, have accused him of being too tough and have asked him to soften his programme to avoid scaring off low-income voters.
“You will be the spearhead of my campaign, I will need each and every one of you,” Fillon told 2,500 party members. “I am calling for unity and total commitment to victory.”
Fillon’s programme includes cutting business taxes, relaxing labour laws and scrapping 35-hour working week in an attempt to boost growth, while also cutting half a million public sector jobs as part of a drive to shrink the state sector.
