PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy cemented his grip on the centre-right opposition party on Saturday after party members overwhelmingly approved renaming it "the Republicans", in a blow to conservative rivals ahead of the 2017 presidential election.
A day after 83 percent of the party's more than 210,000 members backed the name change from the clunkier Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy rebuffed critics who say it is an attempt by the right to usurp the values of the entire nation.
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