Former prime minister François Fillon on Sunday pledged deep economic reforms after winning the conservative Les Republicains’ presidential nomination.

Fillon, 62, resoundingly beat in-party rival Alain Juppé in France’s conservative presidential primary run-off, one week after he shocked the country’s political landscape by topping the first-round poll.

He earned 66.5 percent of votes in Sunday’s election, with Juppé trailing far behind with 33.5 percent support, results showed.

“Voters have understood my strategy: France can’t bear its decline. It wants truth and it wants action,” Fillon told supporters gathered to follow the primary results in central Paris. “I will accept this challenge for France: to tell the truth and completely change its software.”

Supporters interrupted his victory speech with shouts of “Fillon, President!”… read more here