POLITICS
French conservative presidential voting kicks off
December 1, 2021 - December 5, 2021 - Les Républicains, France’s conservative party, are to decide who will challenge President Emmanuel Macron in elections in April 2022.
The five candidates are former health minister Xavier Bertrand, EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, MP from city of Nice Éric Ciotti, head of emergency ward at Paris top hospital Philippe Juvin, and head of Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse.
The roughly 150,000 members of the Republicans party, which traces its roots back to French war hero Charles de Gaulle, are casting their ballots electronically, with the results of the first round of voting set to be announced on Thursday afternoon.
The top two placed candidates will proceed to a run-off contest, with the winner to be declared on Saturday.