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CALLS FOR PARTY ELDER ALAIN JUPPÉ TO TAKE OVER AS INTERIM LEADER AS LEGAL THREATS MOUNT THE MAYOR of Bordeaux Alain Juppé has said he is prepared to take over as interim leader of the

opposition UMP as long as the two rival camps in the leadership election agree. Juppé was contacted by candidate François Fillon after the announcement that overseas votes had not been

included in the final tally for the party's leadership election. The new votes put Fillon ahead of rival Jean-François Copé by 26 votes instead of trailing by 98. A source close to

Juppé told _Le Figaro_: “To organise an interim leader, both parties need to be in agreement. There is nothing to indicate Jean-François Copé is prepared.” The suggestion has the support of

134 UMP deputies who have written to the Mayor of Bordeaux asking him to lead the party in a common direction. Fillon has refused to take his complaint to the independent body (Cocoe) set up

by the UMP to oversee the election as he no longer trusts it. The former prime minister said yesterday that he was renouncing his claim to lead the UMP, but hinted that he may take legal

action over the vote in order get an honest result. Jean-François Copé has insisted that all complaints go through Cocoe and that any recount should include all districts, including the

Alpes-Maritimes, which was won by Fillon, despite allegations of fraud from the Copé team. Copé supporters have already challenged one of the overseas result from New Caledonia. See also:

STORY: Copé wins UMP leadership STORY: Leadership chaos for UMP vote Photo: Fillon - Rama/wikipedia, Copé - MEDEF/wikipedia