French legal probe ratchets up pressure on Fillon election bid

Paris : A French prosecutors' decision to launch a full judicial inquiry into claims that presidential candidate Francois Fillon paid his family for fake jobs leaves him facing a fraught two months before elections, media commentators said Saturday.

Rightwing standardbearer Fillon, who was previously leading the race, will be investigated over allegations of embezzlement for putting his wife Penelope on the public payroll, prosecutors said Friday.

With the first round of the presidential vote less than two months away, on April 23, the 62-year-old former prime minister faces a "perilous period, both legally and politically", the left-wing Liberation daily said in an editorial.

The Paris daily Le Parisien said the decision unleashed a "surge in the pressure" on Fillon.

At the International Farm Fair -- a must for presidential candidates' calendars that opened Saturday in Paris -- farmers and artisans voiced their dismay over the scandal dubbed "Penelopegate".

"If they wanted to disgust us, the French, they've outdone themselves," said Marianne Roussille, 57, who intended to vote for Fillon before the scandal broke last month.

At a stand showcasing cheeses from Normandy, another vendor said he too was no longer prepared to vote for Fillon, who had campaigned as a "clean" candidate. "All our politicians are hooligans, mafiosi," the 45-year-old said, giving his name only as Ghislain.