Thierry Légier, Francois Fillon, Marine Le Pen
Polls finds that most believe Fillon should withdraw from election
Almost two thirds of voters in France want candidate Fillon to withdraw an opinion poll shows.
Published: February 19, 2017, 11:44 am
Paris
Some 65 percent of respondents want Francois Fillon to withdraw from the French presidential election, but on Friday, Fillon said he would stay in the race come what may.
Fillon has rightly blamed the pro-Macron media for his problems. The leftists satirical weekly Le Canard enchainé has been at the forefront in publishing information about the alleged payments made to Penelope Fillon and Fillon’s children while they were student lawyers. “This campaign against me is defamatory,” he complained earlier this month.
In the Ifop poll, members of Fillon’s party were more supportive as some 70 percent indicated that they wanted him to stay in the race for the presidency.
The poll for Sunday newspaper JDD, asked 1 004 respondents if they wanted Republicans candidate Fillon to withdraw from April’s presidential elections and the large majority said they wanted him out.
In the major poll in February on voter intentions, the Ipsos-Sopra Steria survey of almost 16 000 people published by the French daily Le Monde and conducted between February 7 and February 12, Fillon was trailing Emmanuel Macron, a former banker and economy minister in the socialist government.
The poll gave Macron, who heads his own En Marche political group, 23 percent support over 18.5 percent for Fillon. Popular anti-establishment figure Marine le Pen of the National Front (FN) leads polling for the first round by far on April 23 with 26 percent.
Fillon had earlier promised to withdraw if he was put under formal investigation concerning fraudulent payments made to his wife, Penelope, as a so-called assistant.
Last week a financial prosecutor investigating the nearly million euros paid to Fillon’s wife and children from public funds said the evidence gathered meant the case would go forward.
“The investigations will continue with strict respect for the rules governing the code of criminal procedure,” the statement from the National Financial Office (PNF) said on Thursday.
Fillon told the center-right French daily Le Figaro newspaper that it would be “scandalous” to deprive the center-right of a candidate. “The closer we get to the presidential election’s date, the more scandalous it would be to deprive the right and the center of a candidate,” Fillon said in the interview. “My decision is clear: I am running and I’ll go until victory.”
But a campaign meeting for Fillon on Friday in Tourcoing, close to the border with Belgium, had to be held behind closed doors after protesters shouted slogans and banged on pots and pans.
Both Fillon and Macron hope Le Pen would face increased scrutiny concerning payments she made at the European Parliament. European anti-fraud investigators (OLAF) have been reported by investigative website Mediapart and weekly Marianne as saying that Le Pen had admitted using parliamentary funds to pay her bodyguard, Thierry Légier, a total of 41,554 euros between October and December 2011 by claiming he was an EU parliamentary assistant.
Le Pen denied the reports, saying on radio France Bleu Besancon that she “never admitted such a thing to investigators”. Le Pen has refused to pay and has denied the allegations of fraud and said she would not “submit to persecution” by repaying the money.
FN leader told Reuters the demand was “a unilateral decision taken by political opponents … without proof and without waiting for a judgment from the court action I have started”.
The European parliament has long waged a funding war on the FN. Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, together with other FN members had previously had EU payments cut because “misused money” that was not reimbursed, an EU official told Reuters.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
New App Helps Locate Sweden’s Historic Runestones
A new app called Swedish Runestones will help locate historical gems.
Swedish military wants to remilitarize the Åland Islands
The demilitarized autonomy has previously been known as 'the islands of peace.
NOAA Predicts Zero Sunspots for Almost the Whole 2030s
CLIMATEThe United States' government scientific organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts zero sunspots from 2031 to 2040. This is an extreme situation that has not occurred in as long as humanity has been counting sunspots, and it leads us into uncharted territory in terms of our solar system. However, this prediction aligns with the warnings of the world-renowned solar researcher Valentina Zharkova for many years, who indicated in 2019 various signs of this catastrophic phenomenon, including the extreme hailstorms we have seen in Europe and the world this summer. The forecast and various observations this year give cause for very significant concern. In this unique analysis, Free West Media explains why.
European Nationalist Parties Forge Cooperation Ahead of EU Elections
EUROPEAN ELECTIONSOn Saturday, August 26, representatives of six European nationalist parties gathered in Budapest. The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian party Mi Hazánk and took place in the national parliament. Representatives of the parties signed a joint declaration that not only reaffirms the parties' friendship but also their unity on a range of complex political issues. A surprisingly clear and radical manifesto was established. The hope is that this cooperation will lead to success in the EU elections and eventually result in the formation of a group in the European Parliament. For Swedish nationalism, this meeting marks a success as Sweden, for the first time, has a party represented in a leading nationalist cooperation in Europe. Free West Media was present at this historic event.
Turkey Believes Sweden Hasn’t Done Enough
Sweden will have to wait a bit longer for NATO membership, according to Turkey's Justice Minister Jilmaz Tunc. First, Sweden must extradite the "terrorists" Turkey wants and stop the desecration of the Quran.
Swedish Weapon Takes Down Russia’s Best Attack Helicopter
The Russian attack helicopter Ka-52 is considered one of the world's best and has struck fear in Ukraine, where it has hunted down tanks and other armored vehicles, often beyond the range of many light anti-aircraft systems. However, it has met its match in the Swedish air defense missile system RBS 70, which has quickly led to significant losses for the Russian helicopter forces.
The Sun Drives Earth’s Climate, Not Carbon Dioxide
Top Researchers Push Back Against Climate Lies."The correlation is as clear as day," explained the Israeli astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, who was hailed by the establishment, before his interview with Forbes was hastily deleted. What he says contradicts the climate narrative, which points to humans as responsible for Earth's climate. Shaviv firmly asserts that it is the sun that controls the climate, something that can be scientifically proven in many ways. Contrary to the popular belief, the sun's influence on Earth has, in recent years, caused unusually cold and rainy weather, a trend that solar researchers warn will worsen significantly in the coming decades. The sun has exhibited an unusually low activity since 2016, during Solar Cycle 24, which was the weakest in a century.
Strong Confidence in German AfD
Alternative for Germany (AfD) held a party conference on July 29-30 to select candidates for the upcoming EU election next year. EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah, belonging to the party's more radical, ethnonationalist faction, was appointed as the top candidate. The party's two spokespersons delivered powerful speeches criticizing the EU's failed migration policy and trade sanctions that isolate Europe and Germany from the rest of the world. They argued that it's time for the EU to return a significant portion of its power to national parliaments. However, they have dropped the demand for Germany to exit the EU.
The Establishment Wants to Ban Germany’s Second Largest Party – for the Sake of Democracy
The rising popularity of AfD has raised strong concerns within the establishment. Despite lies and demonization in the media and isolation from the overall political establishment, the party continues to grow. Certain representatives of the party are accused of becoming increasingly "extreme," and in an unusual move, the influential weekly newspaper Der Spiegel demanded that AfD be "banned."
Dutch FvD break through the media blockade
What is happening in the Netherlands? It is often difficult to follow events in other countries, especially when distorted by system media. We give Forum for Democracy (FvD) the opportunity to speak out on the political situation in the Netherlands and the staunch resistance they face in trying to save the country.
No comments.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.