A recent poll published showed Francois Fillon would win 65 percent of votes in the final primary vote.
France's conservative presidential favourite Francois Fillon struck a confident tone ahead of a final televised debate Thursday with his rival for the rightwing nomination, Alain Juppe.
The contest between the two ex-premiers has taken a bitter turn, leading more than 200 Republicans lawmakers to publish a pro-Fillon column urging a more civilised discussion.
Whoever wins the primary is widely tipped to become the next president after elections in April and May against a bullish far-right National Front (FN) and weakened Socialist Party.
A poll published on Wednesday showed Fillon would win 65 percent of votes in the final primary vote on Sunday against 35 percent for the more centrist Juppe.
"I'm holding the line and am keeping a cool head, but by the look of things there's powerful momentum that has been unleashed," Fillon, a social conservative and Thatcherite free-market reformer told Le Figaro newspaper.
Polls for the first round, however, failed to forecast Fillon as the overwhelming winner as he surged past Juppe and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was knocked out.
Battle over popeJuppe, a centrist 71-year-old who wants a "happy identity" for demoralised France, is banking on a strong showing in Thursday night's debate when he hopes to highlight his differences with Fillon.
The two men disagree on how deep to cut into France's bloated civil service -- 500,000 job cuts for Fillon, 200,000-300,000 for Juppe -- and on foreign policy.
Fillon favours a softer line with Moscow and an alliance with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, making him a "yes man" to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Juppe's view.
"In diplomacy, if you only spoke to your friends you'd speak to no one," Fillon defended in an opinion article in Le Monde newspaper Thursday, calling for a "frank and solid relationship not just with the Russians but also the Americans".
A devout Catholic, Fillon is also more socially conservative, saying he would roll back some abortion rights for gay couples enshrined in a 2013 gay marriage act.
He also takes a harder line on the threat from radical Islam.
In a recent book entitled "Beating Islamic Totalitarianism" he wrote that "the bloody invasion of Islamism in our daily lives could herald a third world war".
Juppe has condemned the "hysteria" in the debate about Islam in France and called for unity.
"There are two currents today: a divisive right and a right that brings us together," he told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview published Thursday.
This week he was accused of aiming low blows against his rival in his bid to reverse the dynamic of the race.
Juppe demanded that Fillon clarify his stance on abortion, despite the staunch Catholic assuring that while he personally opposed the practice he supported women's right to choose.
The two candidates also competed to show their closeness to the teachings of Pope Francis -- a rare break with protocol in firmly secular France.
"The influence of religion in the contest between Juppe and Fillon is worrying," said the leftwing Liberation newspaper next to a front-page headline stating "Watch out, Jesus is coming back!"
A column published in the conservative daily Le Figaro, signed by 215 Republicans lawmakers, called for a "frank but respectful debate from both sides".
The MPs criticised Juppe's attacks on Fillon's economic programme, which Juppe has called "ultraliberal" -- an insult meaning "ultra-capitalist" in France.
Le Pen awaitsAfter Donald Trump's stunning success in the United States, interest has surged in France's election where mainstream politicians are also seeking to stave off a challenge from the far-right.
Marine Le Pen from the National Front is currently forecast to come first or second in the opening round of the election on April 23 with around 30 percent of the vote, but then fail in the run-off on May 7.
But the hardline French nationalist is hoping to gather momentum after Trump's success, pitching a similar anti-elite, anti-immigration and anti-globalisation message.
Le Pen says she wants to ditch the euro and organise a referendum on France's membership of European Union -- a move that would put the future of European integration at stake.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)