法国总统大选保守党派初选前总理菲永领先

Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon appears to be on his way to winning Sunday's conservative party presidential primary.

Early returns give Fillon 44 percent of the vote, followed by ex-Prime Minister Alain Juppe with 28 percent and former President Nicolas Sarkozy with 21 percent. If those results hold up, Fillon and Juppe will meet in a runoff next Sunday and the winner will be the conservative candidate for president next year.

Sarkozy has already conceded defeat and says he will throw his support behind Fillon.

This is the first time conservative voters directly chose a presidential candidate. Until now, party leaders picked the contender. The campaign was marked by concerns about the influx of migrants into Europe and the devastating series of jihadist attacks in France.

After Britain's shock "Brexit" vote and Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential contest, the French presidential vote is taking shape to be another test between mainstream parties and rising populist forces.

法国前总理弗朗索瓦∙菲永看来将获得星期天举行的总统大选保守党初选。

初步投票结果显示，菲永获得44%的选票，前总理阿兰∙朱佩获得28%的选票，前总统萨科齐得票率21%。按照目前的趋势，菲永和朱佩将在下星期天举行决选，获胜者将代表保守派参加明年的总统大选。

前总统萨科齐已经承认败选，并且转而支持菲永。

这次是法国保守派选民第一次直接投票选举候选人，过去一直是由党内领导人任命。选举中，选民关心的议题包括移民大量涌入欧洲以及极端组织在法国发动的一连串恐怖袭击。

英国选民投票脱欧以及川普当选美国总统后，法国大选也可能成为一次主流政党和日益上升的民粹主义力量之间的较量。