UPDATED WITH ELYSEE STATEMENT, FILLON AIDE RESIGNATION, EMMANUEL MACRON COMMENT, LATEST POLL RESULTS CASE DETAILS
By Hajer M’tiri
PARIS (AA) - French presidential candidate Francois Fillon insisted on Wednesday he would not quit the race for the Elysee despite being summoned to appear before judges over allegations he provided bogus parliamentary jobs for members of his family.
The conservative politician will appear before magistrates on March 15.
Last week a formal judicial investigation was opened into suspected "misuse of public money" surrounding the allegations.
“The rule of law has been systematically violated," an angry Fillon told a news conference at his campaign headquarters, adding: “The presumption of innocence has been entirely eliminated.”
Fillon complained of judicial and media bias and appealed directly for the support of the French people.
“It is indeed a political assassination. It is also the presidential election being assassinated,” he said.
"I will not yield, I will not surrender, I will not withdraw, I will go to the end… Yes I will be a candidate for the presidency of the Republic," Fillon insisted.
"I put myself before the French people because it is their suffrage, and not a biased procedure, that should decide who should be the president of the republic of France," he said.
Fillon has abruptly canceled a Wednesday morning visit to a high-profile agriculture fair, a key campaign event for every presidential candidate. However, he went after making the statement in the afternoon.
His key aide Bruno Le Maire resigned as his adviser on international affairs right after the statement, saying the candidate had gone back on his word to withdraw from the election if he was placed under formal investigation.
The 62-year-old former prime minister, who had initially said he would drop out of the race should a formal investigation be opened, earlier denied any wrongdoing and said he would cooperate with the judges’ summons.
Last Friday, Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front candidate, refused to respond to a summons in another probe into whether she used European Parliament funds to pay party staff.
The French president Francois Hollande slammed Fillon's accusations.
"As the guarantor of the independence of the judicial authority, I wish to rise solemnly against any questioning of the magistrates in the investigations and the instructions they carry out in compliance with the rule of law," reads the Elysee statement, adding:
"A presidential candidacy does not authorize suspicion on the work of police officers and judges, create a climate of mistrust incompatible with the spirit of responsibility and, even worse, impose extremely serious charges against the Justice and more broadly our institutions."
"The French people are sovereign. He will have to decide in the next presidential election. But I remind you that justice is also done in its name and that no one can escape it," Hollande said.
Commenting on Fillon' statement, his rival centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron said he is against "a judicial truce."
“I am in favor of our institutions functioning normally, so that justice can do its job normally," he said.
"This is a sign of lost nerve or lost grip on reality. Everyone needs to keep hold of their senses," the Former Economy Minister told reporters as he visited the Agriculture forum.
The allegations, dating back to January, were made by the investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine.
The weekly claimed -- citing pay slips -- that Fillon had paid about €1 million ($1.08 million) out of public funds to his wife and two of his children as parliamentary assistant and consultants for legal expertise, respectively.
Although it is legal for French lawmakers to hire family members as parliamentary assistants, Le Canard Enchaine cast doubts over whether his wife Penelope actually performed aide duties.
A primary investigation was launched after the first report came out on Jan. 25. It was later widened to include two of the Fillons' five children, Marie and Charles.
The first round of the presidential election is set for April 23 and the runoff on May 7.
An Opinionway published on Wednesday noon showed Le Pen topping with 25 percent in the first round and Macron second with 24 percent. Fillon was third with 21 percent, meaning he would be eliminated from the run-off between the top two candidates.
The poll showed Macron going on to beat Le Pen in the second round with 63 percent of votes.