Fillon clings to French presidential race; party not sure

PARIS (AP) — With the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, French conservative Francois Fillon clung tenaciously to his presidential candidacy Sunday, emboldened by thousands of supporters at a high-stakes rally aimed at quashing pressure on him to step aside because of impending corruption charges.

Crowds of flag-waving voters chanting "Fillon, President!" appeared to give him the confidence he needs to keep up the fight. That support came despite a raft of defections by conservative allies in recent days that threatened to plunge France's unpredictable presidential campaign into unprecedented disarray just seven weeks before its first-round election.

"No one can stop me from being a candidate," he said on France-2 television Sunday night. The rally, he said was "a demonstration that my legitimacy remains very strong."

Fillon, a former prime minister, apologized to voters for errors in judgment but insisted he was being unfairly targeted in an election season. Once the front-runner in France's presidential race, he is now being eclipsed by two other candidates.

His low-profile Welsh wife Penelope — accused of earning a generous taxpayer-funded salary for years for jobs she never performed — took an unusually public place at his side at Sunday's rally, waving a tricolor flag before adoring crowds.

Despite the rally, Fillon's Republicans party remains dangerously divided over his candidacy. Its political committee is holding an urgent meeting Monday to evaluate the situation after Sunday's rally and the recent defections, including by Fillon's campaign manager and his campaign spokesman.

Many conservatives want Alain Juppe, another former prime minister who was the runner-up in the party's primary, to run in Fillon's place.

Fillon warned that this close to election day, any "improvised candidacy ... would lead to failure."