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Copé UMP leader confident of election-win

French centre-right president, Jean-François Copé, declared on Sunday 16 March that he was confident his party would win up-coming local elections. Speaking at a weekly press conference, he insisted the UMP had a clear majority in towns with a population of less than 9,000 inhabitants.

Jean-François Copé at the UMP National Congress, Janvier 25 2014.
Jean-François Copé at the UMP National Congress, Janvier 25 2014. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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Flagging up the "exasperation" of the French people with the current government, Jean François Copé said "all the conditions were in place for an election win".

"Do not be fooled. Don't let this rare opportunity to stop François Hollande in his tracks pass you by," he told media moguls on Sunday 16 March. "You are angry. But if you vote for extremists like the Front National, then you will be siphoning votes away from the UMP", he said.

The Centre-right leader backed up his argument by claiming a growing number of French people now consider the local elections to be as important as a presidential vote, according to a recent survey.

He shrugged off concerns of low-voter turn-out, saying it would only be "logical" if people abstained from voting for the Socialist party.

His remarks come whilst the UMP party is still reeling from the shock waves of the Sarkozy phone-tapping scandal. Mr Copé and his colleagues have accused the French government of resorting to spying in a bid to discredit their opponents.

The first round of local elections will take place next Sunday 23 March. Fourty-three million people are expected to cast their vote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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