Members of the UMP voted this Sunday to choose their new leader. The results are very close, and both camps are accusing each other of fraud. An absurd situation: François Fillon and Jean-François Copé have each claimed victory in the election for the party’s presidency.
“We have tallied all the results (…). These results give me a narrow victory,” declared the former Prime Minister, after Jean-François Copé had also claimed victory.
“The UMP members have granted me the majority of their votes,” Jean-François Copé declared a few minutes earlier, during a press conference at the party’s headquarters.
The first lesson to be learned from this result: regardless of the name of the winner who will ultimately be proclaimed by the UMP electoral commission (COCOE), they will only have a tenuous legitimacy.
High participation marred by multiple fraud accusations
Jean-François Copé’s team announced on Sunday evening that they would appeal to the UMP’s internal commission responsible for ensuring the proper conduct of the UMP president election for “irregularities” in Nice, the stronghold of Fillonists Christian Estrosi and Eric Ciotti, as well as in the 2nd bureau of the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
These accusations were rejected by Eric Ciotti, François Fillon’s campaign manager, who condemned an attempt at manipulation.
The third federation at the center of attention is that of the Alpes-Maritimes. Messrs. Fillon and Copé held numerous meetings in this department, which has more than 12,000 members, a majority of whom are elderly. Led by Christian Estrosi and Eric Ciotti, two close allies of Mr. Fillon, the federation leans predominantly in favor of the Paris deputy.
The only supporters of Copé are the deputy Lionnel Luca, the general councilor and deputy mayor of Nice, Olivier Bettati, and the influential mayor of Le Cannet, Michèle Tabarot, who is part of Jean-François Copé’s “winning ticket.”
