Nicolas Sarkozy out of France's Republican presidential race
  • 7 years ago
French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy has been knocked out the contest for a centre-right presidential candidate and signalled his withdrawal from politics.
The shock winner was Francois Fillon, who staged a remarkable late surge to win the vote.
Fillon had around 44% of the vote followed by Juppe with about 28%, Sarkozy brought in 20%.
The winner of the Republican primary is likely to make the presidential run-off, where he or she will probably face far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
In a concession speech, Sarkozy said he will support the 62-year-old Fillon in the runoff.
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