PARIS, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – Francois Fillon was fighting
to keep his embattled French presidential bid alive on Monday as former president Nicolas Sarkozy piled pressure on him ahead of a crisis meeting of their rightwing Republicans party.
The conservative Fillon, 63, was once a clear favourite to win France’s two-stage election in April and May but his campaign is mired in accusations he used public funds to pay his wife for a fake parliamentary job.
Waiting in the wings is another former prime minister, Alain Juppe, whom Fillon beat in a primary vote to chose the candidate for the conservative Les Republicans party in November.