French right nominates Valerie Pecresse as presidential candidate
France's Republican Party nominated former finance minister Valerie Pecres on Saturday, the first time the party has chosen a woman to run in the presidential election.
Pecresse won the second round of the party primaries with 61% of the vote, ahead of Eric Siotti, an MP from the Alpes-Maritimes region, in the south of the country.
"The oath is back. We will restore our country's unity, dignity and pride," Pekeris declared.
Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012) was the last member of the center-right party to take over the presidency.
Current polls indicate that the Republicans' access to the second round in the April 2022 elections is uncertain.
The most likely candidate so far is incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, who is likely to run again.
The far-right populist Marine Le Pen is currently in second place, according to the polls.
Pecres is currently the president of the "Ile-de-France" region, which includes Paris.
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