Fillon makes last-ditch attempt to rally support as criminal charges loom
reason for “decline”. Promising to put France “back into the lead”, Mr Fillon said “our main enemy is ourselves... our harmful tendency to ridicule our own country”.
At least a third of the hall where he spoke was empty, and with rain forecast it was uncertain how large a turnout Mr Fillon will get today. However, he still retains some influential supporters, including Henri de Castries, the former chief executive of the Axa insurance group, and Valérie Pécresse, head of the Paris regional council.
The Left-wing mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, urged him to call off the rally, which she said was aimed at “demonstrating opposition to judges, police and journalists who have been helping, each in their own way, to bring out the truth in recent weeks”.
Fearing violence if the rally opposite the Eiffel Tower was targeted by protests, his team announced strict security measures. “We are being extremely careful and we’ll have a security cordon of 200 people,” said Pierre Banon, who is coordinating the event.
In a sign of how enfeebled Mr Fillon’s campaign has become, the chief organiser of the rally, Patrick Stefanini, is among more than 100 MPs, mayors, party officials and aides who have defected. Mr Stefanini announced his resignation on Friday.
Mr Fillon became the butt of jokes on social media as he celebrated his 63rd birthday yesterday. Among suggested presents were a prison uniform and a subscription to
the weekly that first reported allegations that he misused public funds to pay his British wife for work she never did.
In her first public remarks about the allegations, Penelope Fillon said her work for her husband had been real and that she wanted him to continue his campaign until the end.
“He needed someone that out his tasks,” she told
“If it hadn’t been me, he would have paid someone else to do it, so we decided that it would be me.”
Much of Mr Fillon’s party now want Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, to take over as the Republicans’ candidate. But Mr Fillon vowed to carry on, despite the likelihood that he will soon face criminal charges. Corruption investigators searched his home in Sarthe, north-western France, on Friday – a day after they searched his Paris flat, it emerged yesterday. The rally was initially billed as a protest against the judiciary and media, who Mr Fillon claims are “hounding” him. Concerned that his support might fall further if hardcore supporters appear with banners condemning judges for refusing to grant him a “truce” until the campaign ends, his aides have banned any slogans other than approved ones.
Party heavyweights are now convinced that Mr Fillon is doomed in an election they believed they were sure to win. Mr Juppé, the runner-up in the party primary, indicated that he will only step in if Mr Fillon quits and the party does not oppose his candidacy.
The polls suggest that Fillon would be eliminated in the first vote on April 22, leaving an independent centrist, Emmanuel Macron, 39, to face Marine Le Pen, 48, the Front National leader, in the runoff two weeks later. If Mr Juppé runs, the polls indicate Ms Le Pen could be knocked out in the first round. carried