French presidential election candidate Francois Fillon gestures during a political rally in Paris, France, Jan. 29, 2017. (Xinhua/Thierry Mahe)
PARIS, March 3 (Xinhua) -- France's former prime minister Francois Fillon, who decided to continue his campaign for the French Presidency despite having been summoned to appear before a judge on March 15 on formal charges over a fake jobs scandal, is facing growing pressure to step down as backers quit his campaign.
Since Fillon's Wednesday announcement of his decision to stay in the race, his campaign team faced an increasing number of defections. Bruno Le Maire, who had lost to Fillon in the Republican primaries, was one of the first, resigning from the campaign on Wednesday afternoon.
"I believe in keeping your word," Le Maire explained, referring to Fillon's January promise to withdraw from the presidential race if he was put under formal charges.
Centrists of the UDI group, who had originally supported Fillon, also announced on Wednesday that they would suspend their participation in the campaign. Thursday, an assistant campaign manager and the campaign treasurer jumped ship.
The same day, allies of the Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppe, once a favorite for the right-wing presidential nomination before defeat to Fillon in the primaries, also resigned, citing Fillon's attacks on judges.
"...We start every day in order to convince our fellow citizens of the necessity to respect our institutions... to respect our commitments, a credibility and a confidence without which there could not be a functional and lasting government," the Juppe supporters said in a statement.
Several rightwing officials and figures have publicly called on Fillon to make way for Alain Juppe, in order to avoid the worst. In the Figaro newspaper, former prime minister Dominique de Villepin argued that by holding on, Francois Fillon "is steering his camp on a road toward the abyss."
Fillon's attack on the French justice system, notably the judges that he accused to have issued a summon for formal charges before studying the case and based on a biased police report, provoked reactions from his opponents as well.
According to the Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, the arguments used by Fillon are of an "unbelievable violence regarding the magistrates and justice."
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron blasted the use of words "assassination or civil war" by Fillon. Macron added that he was favorable of the justice system being allowed to do its work.
French President Francois Hollande also responded to Fillon's charges against the justice system via a press release. "Candidacy for the presidential election does not authorize casting suspicion on the work of police and judges, to create a climate of defiance incompatible with the spirit of responsibility... extremely serious accusations against the justice system and our institutions," he said.
A new poll of Odoxa for Franceinfo published on Friday showed that seven out of ten French voters think the right-wing candidate is wrong to stay in the race. Even amongst right-wing voters, points of view are mixed, with approval for Fillon remaining in the race split 50/50.
