‘Tainted’ Fillon refuses to quit race, allies leave
Paris, March 1: An ally of France’s Francois Fillon on Wednesday quit the rightwing presidential candidate’s campaign criticising him for failing to keep his word after he refused to withdraw his candidacy despite facing criminal charges.
“I believe in respect for your word, it is essential to (maintain) credibility in politics,” Bruno Le Maire said after Mr Fillon said he would continue his bid for the presidency even though he will be charged later this month in an expenses scam.
Fillon suffered another blow when a small centrist party said it was “suspending” its backing. The UDI is pausing its support and the party leadership will meet next week to decide whether to fully withdraw its backing for Fillon, its chief Jean-Christophe Lagarde said.
The 62-year-old conservative former Premier was favourite at the start of the year to win the French presidency after clinching the nomination for the Republicans party in November last. But he has since been hit by a series of allegations that he paid his wife Penelope and his children thousands of euros since 1988 for alleged fake parliamentary jobs.
Mr Fillon said the charges were “entirely calculated to stop me being a candidate for the presidential election.” “I won’t give in, I won’t surrender and I won’t withdraw,” he told a press conference on Wednesday.
It is the latest twist in an extraordinary campaign that has regularly wrongfooted observers ahead of the two-stage contest on April 23 and May 7.
Last week, prosecutors launched a full judicial inquiry into Mr Fillon’s use of his parliamentary budget, increasing pressure on his campaign. He has been summoned to be charged on March 15.
Mr Fillon has been defiant throughout the affair, insisting publicly that the facts would exonerate him and reminding his party that they have a few alternatives to replace him.
He asserted that he was the victim of a “political assassination”. He even accused the media of trying to “lynch” him. He pointed the finger at President Francois Hollande and his government, which he feels has encouraged the probe to discredit him.