Fillon’s Chances to Enter French Presidential Run-Off Down by 0.5% - Poll

The Republicans' presidential nominee Francois Fillon’s public support decreased by 0.5 percent of votes in the first round of the French presidential elections, while two other top candidate’s voting intention figures remain unchanged, a survey showed on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Fillon is projected to receive 18 percentage points in the first round of the elections, slated for April 23, while the Wednesday survey forecast that he would gain 18.5 percent, the survey conducted jointly by the Ifop/Fiducial companies for local media demonstrated.

The poll also indicated that independent candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front (FN) party leader Marine Le Pen are expected to get 25.5 and 26.5 respectively, which has not been subjected to changes since Wednesday.

Besides, the survey showed that Macron is likely to win over Le Pen in the May run-off with 61.5 percent, which is 0.5 percent less that on Wednesday.

Fillon lost much of public support due to the fake job scandal that broke out in late January around his wife allegedly having been paid from state funds for jobs without exercising her duties. A poll earlier in March showed that over two-thirds of French voters wanted Fillon to withdraw from the presidential race, however, he rejected any possibility of pulling out.