Fillon Projected to Lose 1st Round of French Presidential Election - Poll

Francois Fillon, the candidate of The Republicans party, may end up in the third place in the first round of the upcoming French presidential elections, which would effectively eliminate him from the race, a survey conducted by BVA polling firm showed Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the poll carried out on February 1-2, Fillon can barely get 20 percent of the votes in the first round, as opposed to about 24 percent in the beginning of January, while Emmanuel Macron, former economy minister under the current socialist government, enjoys between 21 and 22 percent of the potential votes and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen retains about 25 percent of the votes.

The survey shows that Le Pen can expect to move on to the second round, but would lose to either Macron with her expected 34 percent of votes against his 66, or to Fillon with 40 percent against 60.

According to the poll, Former Education Minister Benoit Hamon, the candidate from the Socialist Party, could benefit from forging an alliance with environmentalist Yannick Jadot and left-wing Jean-Luc Melenchon, as 42 percent of the supporters of the left would approve of the union, irrespective of who would represent it in the race.

Emmanuel Macron will hold a rally in the French city of Lyon on Saturday afternoon. Le Pen and Melenchon have also scheduled separate meetings with their supporters in Lyon for Sunday.

Fillon's lower ratings are likely linked to the scandal that broke out in late January around his wife allegedly having been paid for jobs without exercising her duties. French media also questioned Fillon's children's employment as his parliamentary assistants between 2005 and 2007.

The French police, which opened a probe into the matter, carried out searches in the headquarters of the magazine where Penelope Fillon used to work and in the French Senate. The center-right candidate denied all accusations.

The first round of the French presidential elections is scheduled for April 23, with the run-off slated for May 7.