France's main opposition party said on Sunday a national drive to refill its coffers and avert a financial crisis had met its target, raising 11 million euros ($14.5 million) in just two months, reports Reuters.
French election auditors ruled in July the Conservative UMP had overspent during former president Nicolas Sarkozy's 2012 campaign. As a penalty, they ordered it to repay the 11 million euros of state money it had been advanced.
To plug the hole, the UMP embarked on a nationwide fundraising campaign, dubbed a "Sarkothon" by the media.
"In eight weeks, the UMP has carried out the most important fundraising campaign ever made by a political party under the Fifth Republic," UMP President Jean-Francois Cope told young militants in northern France on Sunday.
Read more of this report from Reuters.