Leadership chaos for UMP vote

THE UMP's leadership vote is in disarray after both candidates declared themselves victors.

Vote counting and recounts are still under way and no official result as to who will succeed Nicolas Sarkozy has been announced.

This has not stopped party members, many of whom were ministers in the last government, weighing-in behind their candidate in online statements and press releases.

It is exactly the scenario the UMP attempted to avoid in the run-up to the weekend's election and mirrors that of the shambolic Socialist Party leadership contest of 2008.

The UMP spared no punches in lampooning the Socialists after their neck-a-neck result threatened to tear the party apart in a public slanging match.

Turnout for the UMP election was high, particularly in one voting station, where a complaint has been lodged that 40 more ballots were counted than people who voted.

Both François Fillon and Jean-François Copé have filed complaints with the independent commission overseeing the vote. Copé, for the count in Nice and Fillon for the Haute-Garonne and Bouches-du-Rhône - areas that had already been flagged up as trouble spots before the vote took place.

Copé announced his victory in the early hours of Monday morning, his camp claiming they had called Fillon and warned them.

Fillon's supporters deny any call was made and just a few minutes later also declared that he was the victor.

A couple of hours later the independent commission announced it was stopping the count, claiming it did not have enough official documentation from half the departments and was unable to say who had won.

The commission will begin counting again this afternoon. Meanwhile calls for a another election have already been made by Fillon supporter Jean Leonetti and the mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppé has called on the candidates to meet.

Photo: Fillon - Rama/wikipedia, Copé - MEDEF/wikipedia