Francois Fillon has launched a counter-attack against the bogus jobs scandal that is threatening his campaign.
At a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Paris, the 62-year-old admitted his Welsh-born wife did work as his assistant and that he gave consultancy work to two of his children but insisted this was entirely legal and transparent.
The French conservative presidential candidate has refused to stand down as his party’s nominee and says he will continue.
Speaking at the weekend, the French conservative presidential candidate said he would fight to the end to defend his position as his party’s nominee.
A champion of the application of free-market policies to reinvigorate France’s heavily-regulated economy, Fillon has seen his campaign unravel over the last two weeks.
If he were forced to quit as the centre-right nominee, it would be unprecedented in six decades of French politics.
Fillon to address France over 'fake job' scandal https://t.co/Os4Rps6w4F pic.twitter.com/scWIbuwIyg— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) February 6, 2017
The background
Fillon has come under pressure to quit the race since allegations were published on January 25 claiming his wife Penelope was paid hundreds of thousands of euros in public money for work she may never have done.
Francois Fillon to hold a press conference today over 'fake job' scandal that has put his campaign in peril https://t.co/p4biFr9enS pic.twitter.com/OeaRq9W7tR— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 6, 2017
Fillon’s reversal of fortune
It has been a humiliating reversal of fortune for Fillon.
The devout Catholic and father-of-five had campaigned on the basis that he is a rare, honest politician.
The accusations also sit uneasily with his economic plans for setting France back on its feet.
These include slashing public spending and sacking half a million public servants.
Since the scandal broke, he and his Welsh-born wife have been interviewed by the fraud office, his parliamentary office has been searched and the inquiry has been extended to two of his adult children who, it is suggested, were also paid for stints of work at the Senate.
A report on Monday (link in French) in the French newspaper Le Monde said Fillon told investigators that his daugher had helped him research a book he wrote and that his son had been paid while helping with the 2007 campaign of former president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
The newspaper said prosecutors are investigating whether there was a link between a Legion of Honour medal awarded to a wealthy businessman friend of Fillon’s and a sum of money that businessman paid to his wife, Penelope.
Le Monde quoted Fillon’s lawyer as saying there was no link between the medal award and payments the magnate made to Penelope Fillon between 2012 and 2013.
What the polls say
Opinion polls suggest the 62-year-old former prime minister has lost his status as favourite to win the presidency.
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