"Open crisis in the UMP", says a front-page headline in the centre-right Figaro after Jean-Francois Cope and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon both claimed victory.
Centre-right UMP President Jean-Francois Cope said the rally would be a "test" for the president because there were "clearly millions of French people who are probably concerned by this reform".
But rumors of a comeback have intensified since the UMP's confused attempt to elect a successor last November, in which both candidates Francois Fillon and Jean-Francois Cope claimed victory amid intraparty squabbling and allegations of vote-rigging.