Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who was in the running to head the conservative Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP), on Tuesday said he favored a fresh vote to decide the party leadership that would be open to new candidates.

After three weeks of campaigning against the party's incumbent leader Jean-Francois Cope, Fillon urged for a new vote "before summer" to "fully open the game to new candidates," he told local broadcaster Europe1.

Chaos reigned in the right-wing conservative party since Nov. 18 after both contenders claimed to have won the leadership vote.

Fillon formed a new parliamentary wing and warned he would seek judicial solutions after the UMP's Electoral Appeals Commission confirmed Jean-Francois Cope as the party's president.

To end the dispute, former conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy suggested having a fresh vote.

Fillon and Cope were expected to meet for a fifth round of talks later on Tuesday at the National Assembly in a attempt to reach a compromise and end the vote dispute.