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| Francois Fillon, former French prime minister, member of The Republicans political party and 2017 presidential election candidate of the French centre-right, attends a campaign rally in Margny-les-Compiegne |
France’s financial prosecutor said on Thursday she would pursue a probe into fake work allegations about presidential candidate Francois Fillon, dealing a new blow to the ex-prime minister’s faltering campaign.
A three-week-old scandal over whether or not Fillon‘s wife worked for hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayers’ money paid to her as a parliamentary aide has cost the conservative his status as favourite to win the presidency in May.
“It is my duty to affirm that the numerous elements collected (by investigators) do not, at this stage, permit the case to be dropped,” prosecutor Eliane Houlette said in a statement after receiving an initial police report on whether public funds were misused.
She did not announce further steps. Among her choices are dropping the case, taking it further by appointing an investigating magistrate, or sending it straight to trial.
A source close to the case said it now looked unlikely that the financial prosecution service, set up under President Francois Hollande in 2013, would drop the case.
Fillon‘s camp has challenged the legitimacy of the probe.
The candidate reiterated his criticism of the case in comments to the conservative newspaper Le Figaro on Thursday, saying that Houlette’s statement merely added to the “media circus” surrounding the affair.
He also told Le Figaro that he remained as determined as ever to continue his election campaign.
Fillon, 62, has said he would step down if he were put under formal investigation – a step that would be the decision of an investigating magistrate, but which could take months or years.
He has faced down a rebellion among fellow conservative lawmakers who want to appoint a new candidate, but there are still rumblings about his unsuitability.
With the first round of the election less than 10 weeks away, opinion polls say independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron ranks as favourite to win the presidency.
Polls tip far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen to win the April 23 first round, with Macron coming second ahead of Fillon. Second-round polls show either Macron or Fillonwinning the two-person run-off on May 7 against Le Pen.
A Cevipof first-round poll for Le Monde newspaper on Thursday confirmed these standings, putting Fillon in third place.
