Fillon advances
Conservative reformer wins French presidential primary
South Korean President Park Geun-hye cannot be questioned by Tuesday as prosecutors have requested, her lawyer said, as she resists growing calls to resign over an influence scandal that has engulfed her administration.
Park is under intense pressure to step down over the crisis involving a close friend accused of meddling in state affairs, with the main opposition party seeking to put an impeachment motion up for a vote as soon as Friday.
On Monday, Park accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong, the latest in a series of personnel reshuffles she’s made amid the political scandal.
Park has fired eight of her presidential aides and nominated a new prime minister to try to regain public trust.
But on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rallied for the fifth weekend in a row, calling for Park’s resignation. Organizers said the crowd totaled 1.5 million, while the police estimated the crowd at 260,000.
Park’s lawyer, Yoo Yeongha, said in a text message that the president had to deal with the “fast-moving situation” and so there was little time for her to cooperate with prosecutors, who had asked to question her by Tuesday.
“It is regrettable that the president cannot cooperate with face-to-face questioning the prosecutors have asked for by Nov 29,” Yoo said.
Instead of responding to the current investigators’ request for questioning, Park, 64, will prepare for an investigation by a special prosecutor that was expected to begin in December, Yoo had said previously.
Park’s friend, Choi Soon-sil, and a former aide have been indicted in the case. Park was named as an accomplice in an investigation into whether big businesses were inappropriately pressured to contribute money to foundations set up to back Park’s initiatives.
Park, whose single five-year term is due to end in February 2018, has apologized twice over the affair, to little effect. Her approval rating fell to just 4 percent in a weekly survey released on Friday by Gallup Korea, an all time-low for a democratically elected South Korean president.
It is regrettable that the president cannot cooperate with face-to-face questioning the prosecutors have asked for by Nov 29.” Yoo Yeong-ha, Park’s lawyer
Francois Fillon, a conservative reformist promising to shrink the French state, on Sunday clinched the rightwing nomination for next year’s presidential election with a resounding victory over his rival Alain Juppe.
Former prime minister Fillon, 62, will now become a favorite to be France’s next leader after winning the US-style primary to pick the nominee of The Republicans party and its allies.
Near-complete results showed him winning 66.5 percent of the vote, with ballots counted from 9,915 polling stations out of 10,229.
In a victory speech, the amateur rally driver said he had “torn up all the pre-written scripts” as he sped past his rivals in the last weeks of the campaign.
“France can no longer bear its decline. France wants the truth and France wants action,” he told cheering supporters after Juppe, a centrist, conceded defeat.
The French presidential vote is seen as a key test for mainstream political parties after the success of Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom, both of which harnessed antielite anger.
Fillon will face fierce competition in the two-round election in April and May from far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the anti-establishment candidate hoping to emulate Trump’s shock victory in the United States.
Fillon said a win for the antiEU Le Pen would spell “bankruptcy”.
Two surveys on Sunday put Fillon ahead of Le Pen in the first round of the election, with the left-wing candidates trailing further behind.
Turnout in the primary stood at around four million, roughly the same as in the first round of voting a week ago when Fillon came from behind to lead a field of seven candidates.
The prime minister from 2007-12 has warned that France is “on the verge of revolt” and believes his plan to slash 500,000 public sector jobs and increase working hours is the tonic needed to kick-start the economy.
‘Brutal’ candidate?
The devout Catholic has also taken a hard line on immigration and Islam in France, telling newcomers to the country last week that “when you enter someone else’s house you do not take over”.
Voting in northwest Paris, Christophe Mordelet, a 45-yearold human resources manager, said he chose Fillon because he showed “more authority” than Juppe, who campaigned as a moderate unifier.
“You have to bang your fist on the table to get reforms through in this country. We have to stop giving into the power of the street,” he said.
Juppe made a failed pitch for the center-ground, saying his opponent’s agenda was too “brutal” and he was better placed to keep the far-right out of power.
Conceding defeat and ending his career-long dream of becoming president, the 71-year-old wished Fillon “good luck” in his bid to take back the Elysee Palace from the ruling party.
During the campaign, Juppe had hit out at his opponent as a “yes man” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and also questioned his views on abortion.
Fillon wants closer ties with the Kremlin and has called for the European Union to lift its sanctions on Moscow imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
President Francois Hollande has not announced whether he will try to defy his historically low approval ratings by running for a second term.
France can no longer bear its decline. France wants the truth and France wants action.” Francois Fillon,