Fighting talk from François Fillon at rally as party prepares to oust him as candidate

Tens of thousands of François Fillon’s supporters braved driving rain and wind at a make-or-break rally in Paris on Sunday, prompting the scandal-hit French presidential candidate to vow to fight on despite moves to oust him from the presidential race.

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Senior party figures are to hold crisis talks on Monday that could see Mr Fillon replaced by the man he beat in the November primaries, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister.
"They think I’m alone. They want me to be alone,” Mr Fillon told the crowd opposite the Eiffel Tower. As the beleaguered conservative candidate began speaking, the rain stopped.

"Are we alone?” he demanded. "No,” the crowd roared back, many waving tricolour flags. They chanted: "Hold on. France needs you.”

The show of strength was aimed at demonstrating that Mr Fillon, once the frontrunner but now increasingly isolated in his Republicans party, still commands popular support despite a corruption scandal that has dragged down his poll ratings.

Later, in a combative interview on national television, Mr Fillon defended his decision to fight on.

He insisted that, despite what he called his "mistakes”, 200,000 people had come from all over France to attend the rally, even though police estimated the turnout at around 40,000, well short of the target of the 50,000 Mr Fillon’s campaign team had banked on to prove public opinion was still on his side.

"I believe that my project is supported by a majority of voters from the Right and from the centre and that I demonstrated this today,” he said.

"The success of this demonstration shows that my legitimacy as a candidate remains very strong. I can unite (the party) for the campaign and for government… No one can prevent me now from being the candidate.”

He repeated that he was innocent of the corruption allegations, accusing the judiciary of meddling in the democratic process and "stealing the election" from the French people.”

Earlier she broke her silence over the allegations, insisting that she had worked as his assistant in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

Minutes after Mr Fillon’s interview, Mr Juppé announced that he would make a statement to the French people on Monday morning.

Christian Estrosi, the Right-wing head of the Provence, Alps and Riviera region, said he and two other powerful party figures would propose a face-saving way for an alternative candidate to replace Mr Fillon "within hours”.

The latest polls suggested that Mr Fillon would be eliminated in the first-round of the election next month, but if Mr Juppé takes over, he is likely to win back the Elysée Palace for the conservatives after five years of Socialist rule.

Mr Juppé has indicated that he is ready to step in, even at this late stage, but only if Mr Fillon agrees to quit and the party, including his long-time rival, Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president, is behind him.

"Juppé would be the simplest solution,” said Mr Estrosi, a close ally of Mr Sarkozy, who had previously blocked Mr Juppé’s candidacy. The two men spoke on Saturday night and Mr Sarkozy has signalled that he would not stand in the way.

"I refuse to lead our supporters and our voters to a collective suicide,” Mr Estrosi said, but added that it was important "not to humiliate Mr Fillon and allow him a "dignified” exit.

More than 250 MPs, local councillors and officials of his Republican party have deserted Mr Fillon since he revealed last week that he was likely to face criminal charges.

Few senior party figures attended his rally. Many in the crowd were devout Catholics, who, like Mr Fillon himself, opposed the introduction of gay marriage in 2013, and were bussed in from across France.

Mr Fillon acknowledged errors in judgment but said he was being unfairly targeted in an effort to undermine his campaign only seven weeks before the two-round election begins.

You should not surrender to worry or anger," he told his supporters. "I thank those of you who will never give up the fight, you who always refuse to listen to the siren calls of discouragement.”

Hundreds of left-wing protesters took part in a counter-demonstration across town in the Place de la Republique to denounce what they said was entrenched corruption in the French political class. Protestors banged metal spoons on cooking pots. Pot - or casserole in French - is a slang term for corruption.

Mr Fillon received unexpected support from Marine Le Pen, who said replacing the man who won the Republicans’ primary would be "undemocratic”.

She has long held the poll lead for the first-round vote, which would take her into the decisive second-round runoff. If Mr Juppé runs, the polls suggest she could be knocked out in the first vote.