Fillon vows to stay in French race amid defections
PARIS — The French presidential campaign lurched across another speedbump Wednesday as conservative candidate Francois Fillon defiantly vowed to stay in the race despite being notified that he may face preliminary corruption charges in two weeks.
The spring election to replace unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande has been like no other, strewn with surprises and besmirched with corruption allegations against Fillon and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front. Le Pen so far has managed to dodge investigating judges and maintain a top position in the polls.
Fillon, a former prime minister and once the front-runner in France’s two-round April-May presidential election, announced that he was summoned to appear before judges on March 15 for allegedly using taxpayers’ money to pay family members for jobs that may not have existed.
The right-wing Republicans party candidate denounced the summons, saying it amounted to a “political assassination.” Then he went further, saying that France’s entire presidential election was being taken out by an over-eager judicial process that was bulldozing the campaign. He appealed to citizens to “resist” and judge for themselves.