France's embattled candidate Fillon wins 'unanimous' party backing
Leading figures in the French centre-right Republican Party have unanimously voted to revive the campaign of embattled presidential candidate Francois Fillon after an emergency meeting
Francois Fillon has the backing of his party in spite of the ongoing investigation into payments made to his family
France's embattled presidential hopeful Francois Fillon on Monday won "unanimous" support from his Republicans party, putting him firmly back in the driver's seat after veteran conservative Alain Juppe rejected calls to stand in his place.
Fillon, a former Prime Minister and once favourite to succeed socialist Francois Hollande as President, has seen his support fall away following allegations of impropriety regarding payments from the public purse to his family members.
He faces formal investigation for embezzlement, which he denies.
The push to revive Fillon’s damaged campaign comes as no obvious candidate to replace him has emerged from the Republicans.
"The political committee, after a wide-ranging exchange, unanimously renewed its support for Francois Fillon," Senate speaker Gerard Larcher told reporters after around 20 party seniors met to "evaluate" the crisis sparked by the fake jobs scandal clouding Fillon's campaign.
Fillon, 63, had told the meeting that Juppe's definitive decision not to run "confirmed that there isn't a plan B" to his candidacy, according to a text of his remarks sent to AFP news agency
Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, 71, who lost the Republican nomination race to Fillon, has repeatedly ruled out replacing his former rival as a last-minute candidate.
Since losing the primary, he has repeatedly said he does not want to run as a second choice candidate and believes it is “too late” for him to step in and unite the people.
Juppe, the current Mayor of Bordeaux, said Fillon had “a boulevard in front of him” to win the presidency, but ended up “down a dead end”.
With just seven weeks to go before the country goes to the polls in a two-stage vote, Fillon said: "We have lost too much time with vain debates, leaving the way open for the far right and candidates on the left who are rubbing their hands over our disunity."
However, in a sombre statement earlier on Monday, Juppe said he would not stand in for Fillon, whom he criticised for his defiance of the justice system and swipes at the media.
He also said France was "sick" and suffering from a "profound crisis of confidence".
Polls suggested Juppe would be more popular with voters, but the centrist is considered too soft on immigration and other social issues for many of Fillon's supporters on the right flank of the party.
The favourite to win the Presidency is centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen expected to challenge strongly in the first round. Fillon is not expected to make it past the first round following the swirl of damaging allegations that his Welsh-born wife, Penelope, was paid for several years for work she did not do as his parliamentary assistant.
Also being examined are claims that two of his children, Marie and Charles, were paid by their father’s office to carry out legal work before they had qualified as lawyers.
The first round of voting is set to take place on 23 April.
