France’s Fillon apologises for expenses scandal but refuses to step aside
PARIS: French rightwing presidential candidate Francois Fillon on Monday apologised for hiringhiswifeashisparliamentary aide, admitting he made an ‘error’ as he sought to draw a line under a damaging scandal.
Fillon’s bid has been in turmoil since it emerged that his Britishborn spouse was paid handsome sums for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary assistant.
Late Monday, the candidate himself corrected a version fi rst leaked in the press, revealing that the after-tax payments to his wife totalled more than 680,000 euros ( US$ 730,000) over a total of 15 and a half years starting in 1986.
Fillon also used funds available to lawmakers to hire two of his children, paying them 84,000 euros (US$ 91,000) pre-tax between 2005 and 2007.
“It was an error, I profoundly regret it and I apologise to the French people,” Fillon told a press conference while insisting he had done nothing illegal and that his wife Penelope’s earnings were justified. The former prime minister, 62, said he had hired family members — as allowed in France — out of ‘ trust’ but now recognised that such policies ‘create distrust nowadays’.
Rejecting calls from some within his camp to step aside, he declared: “From tonight, I announce here that it’s a new campaign that’s starting.”
“I am a candidate for the presidency to win it,” he added.
Fillon’s press conference was seen as crucial to his chances after a flurry of allegations that have tarnished his sleaze-free image and triggered a preliminary probe into possible misuse of public funds. France goes to the polls in April and May for a two-round presidential election.
Fillon, a devout Catholic who won the nomination of the Republicans party in November on a pledge to slash public spending, had been the frontrunner until two weeks ago.
Polls now show him possibly crashing out in the first round, likely leaving far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and rising star Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, to battle it out in May’s runoff vote. — AFP