Fillon’s Camp Says It Won Election to Lead French UMP Party
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Francois Fillon, the former French prime minister who was declared the narrow loser of a vote to lead former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party, in reality won the vote because some overseas ballots weren’t counted, his campaign manager said.
In a televised press conference, campaign manager Eric Ciotti said some 1,304 ballots from French possessions in the Pacific and Indian Ocean weren’t counted, and that with these votes Fillon won the race by 26 votes over his rival, party whip Jean-Francois Cope.