Naturally little said, François Fillon has become frankly silent since his defeat in the last presidential election, at the end of a campaign made chaotic by the famous “affair”. But, while the lawsuit brought against him for embezzlement of public funds, complicity and concealment of this offense, complicity and concealment of abuse of social goods, and breach of the reporting obligations of the High Authority for the transparency of public life, should open on February 24 to close on March 11, François Fillon will benefit from a media window.
This Thursday evening, on France 2, as part of the show It’s your turn to speak, he will take it to explain in particular the presumed fictitious jobs of his wife, Pénélope, which earned him this appearance. An invitation greeted, to varying degrees, by those closest to him, but which raises many reservations within the Republicans counting on the municipal elections in March to recover, after three electoral defeats of rank.
“Risk taking”
One of the members of the first circle notably slipped to BFMTV: “Speaking again is a risk he takes. He is very pugnacious and will not go to the slaughter like a lamb.”
“He is committed to giving his truth,” asked the chairman of the group of Republicans in the Senate Bruno Retailleau, a loyal Fillonist, before adding: “François Fillon has been brought before the media court, it is not a question of settle accounts, but to explain themselves to the French. ” The deputy elected in Paris Claude Goasguen was cooler when talking about his former candidate: “I obviously want François to defend himself but I would also like us to forget this period of our history which is not truly the most glorious. “
Hearts and whispers of distrust
Does this mean that within LR the silence of François Fillon hardly bothered and that we would have preferred that he stayed there in any case until the municipal ones, reserving his declarations to the only criminal court of Paris? Not far for this elected official who, questioned by AFP, confined himself to noting that François Fillon “has left the political field”.
One of his colleagues, relayed by the same source, took a more direct and more bitter path: “It is lousy. It sucks. It has no interest”.
“Not sure that it has an influence on the elections,” relativized Christian Jacob, president of the movement.
But the Sarthois has a few reasons to seize the opportunity offered to him by public service. “François Fillon wants to wash his honor. He says it himself, he does not want us to remember only the Pénélope affair, the costume affair, this presidential campaign”, detailed our editorial writer, Bruno Jeudy.
His lawyer, Maître Antonin Lévy, supported his client’s approach with the article that The world devoted to the latter. “There is impatience with him to be able to explain himself directly and not before a judge, some of whose words are leaking without him being able to defend himself. He wants to speak without intermediaries, to tell his truth,” said the council. In addition to master Lévy, the man who was the strong man on the right has the support of his collaborator Igor Mitrofanoff and the communicator Anne Méaux to work on his preparation, which is said to be meticulous, of the television program.
The air background is cool at LR
Whether municipal or not, the memory of François Fillon is most often swept by a fresh wind in the premises of the Republicans. It is difficult to forget the slump in which he left the right in circumstances where the alternation seemed promised, possibly his blows to Nicolas Sarkozy. Proponents of his current of thought are now rare in party proceedings. A last slate weighs heavily. The Opinion highlighted here that a dispute between the former Prime Minister and LR in recent months: the payment of sums invalidated by the National Commission of campaign accounts, up to 124,310 euros.
François Fillon, believing that it was nevertheless expenses related to his electoral equipment, could not be paid. The daily reports that a first agreement has been reached but it is partial. At the end of the year, the political party agreed to pay 77,820 euros.
Curtains)
Perhaps there is the last thread connecting François Fillon to his old apparatus, independently of this trial which by the nature of things will bring him back to his missed political meeting. Because, beyond the financial conflict and the legal turmoil, he did take a step aside. His time no longer crosses that of the political agenda and is divided between his mansion of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, his foundation Agir pour les Christians d’Orient and, above all, the investment fund which employs him, Tikehau Capital.
However, it is a safe bet that we were ticked at Tikehau’s in front of the TV program. His employers, Antoine Flammarion and Mathieu Chabran, have little taste for the idea of a new foray of their “senior advisor“on the political field.” As soon as there is an article on him, they climb up to the curtains, “observed one of their relatives near the World. The rods will no doubt have to be securely stowed this Thursday evening.
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