Fillon bid alive as rival rules himself out

PARIS - Former French prime minister Alain Juppe ruled himself out on Monday as an alternative to his right-wing party colleague Francois Fillon whose campaign has been thrown into chaos by a fake job scandal.

Juppe, 71, was the most likely candidate to step in for Fillon and try to unite their deeply divided Republicans party only seven weeks from the start of the two-stage election.

Polls suggest Juppe would be more popular with voters, but the centrist is considered too soft on immigration and other social issues for many of Fillon's supporters and the right flank of the party.