France's Juppe, Sarkozy seen contesting center-right presidential primaries runoff -poll

PARIS Alain Juppe and Nicolas Sarkozy are set to fight it out in a second round for the conservatives' presidential election ticket later this month, according to the latest poll on the subject.


The poll in Le Monde newspaper by Cevipof and Ipsos-Sopra Steria said former prime minister Juppe would win 36 percent of votes in Sunday's first round, with ex-president Sarkozy gathering 29 percent.


Francois Fillon, who has been gaining ground in recent polls as the first round approaches, was in third place with 22 percent, up 10 points in a month. One poll on Tuesday covering the main Les Republicains party candidates put him neck-and-neck with Sarkozy and potentially beating Juppe in the second round.


There was no prediction for the primaries' second round in the Cevipof poll, but most surveys to date have shown Juppe a clear winner there.


He is also favorite to win the election itself in a second-round run-off against far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. The poll confirmed the widely-held expectation that Le Pen would be the likely opponent of any center-right candidate.


(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Michel Rose)

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