PARIS (Sputnik) – Former French Prime Minister and Bordeaux Mayor Alain Juppe said Friday he supported the candidacy of The Republicans presidential nominee Francois Fillon in the upcoming presidential election, in spite of the fact that the ex-prime minister criticized Fillon in the light of a scandal over the fake employment of his wife.
J'envoie ce matin mon parrainage à F.Fillon. Même simple passager, Je ne quitte pas le navire dans la tempête.
— Alain Juppé (@alainjuppe) 10 марта 2017 г.
"This morning I send my sponsorship to Fillon. Even if a simple passenger, I am not leaving the ship [caught] in the storm," Juppe wrote.
A few hours after Juppe’s post emerged, Fillon expressed via Twitter his gratitude to the former prime minister for his clear support and added that all together they would "redress" the country's affairs.
Merci à Alain Juppé de son soutien clair et de son élégance. C'est tous ensemble que nous redresserons le pays.
— François Fillon (@FrancoisFillon) 10 марта 2017 г.
According to French law, each candidate for the state’s presidency has to gather at least 500 signatures from the elected officials or so-called sponsors, including mayors, regional lawmakers and senators among other politicians, to be officially registered as a presidential candidate. On Tuesday, the French Constitutional Council said Fillon had a total of 1,789 endorsements, while Juppe had 242 signatures. Further results are expected to be published later on Friday. Juppe's move might be regarded as a step toward reconciliation of The Republicans.
Also on Monday, Fillon agreed to hold a meeting with Sarkozy and Juppe to discuss the ways out of the crisis the party is undergoing due to the scandal with fake employment of his wife. However, the meeting, initially proposed by Sarkozy and set for Tuesday, was called off.
The scandal that broke out in January around Fillon's wife allegedly having been employed as his parliamentary assistant and paid without actually working, cost Fillon much of his support. A poll earlier in March showed that over two-thirds of French voters wanted Fillon to withdraw from the presidential race, however, he ruled out pulling out. Juppe criticized Fillon's attempt to accuse the state's government of plotting against him.
An OpinionWay poll published on Thursday showed that far-right National Front (FN) party leader Marine Le Pen is most likely to win the first round of the presidential election, scheduled for April 23, with 26 percent of the votes. However, the FN politician is expected to be defeated in the May run-off by either Fillon or independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, who are projected to win 62 percent and 64 percent of the votes, respectively, if they stand against Le Pen.
