Embattled French presidential candidate Francois Fillon delivered a defiant speech to thousands of supporters in central Paris on Sunday (March 5), but made no pledge to fight on as pressure from his conservative party mounted on him to step aside.
Once the frontrunner in the presidential race, Fillon is mired in a scandal over his wife's pay. His campaign has been in serious trouble since he learned last week that he could be placed under formal investigation for misuse of public funds.
Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and complained of judicial and media bias that amounted to a "political assassination".
Sunday's rally was intended to show he still has support among the grassroots.
As thousands of tricolore flag-waving supporters chanted for him to stay, Fillon appeared to put the ball back into his party's court.
"It's my fault the project I carry, in which I believe in which you believe in, is running into such formidable obstacles. I made the first mistake, I've told you, by asking my wife to work for me because she knew the grounds, because it was practical, I should not have done it," Fillon told his supporters.
Party leaders prepared for a meeting on Monday to discuss crisis ahead of a March 17 deadline when all candidates must be formally endorsed by at least 500 elected officials.
A senior politician from his party, The Republicans, had earlier said that several party heavyweights were about to issue a statement calling for former prime minister Alain Juppe, who lost to Fillon in November for the party ticket, to replace him.
"To the political men and women of my camp, I will say this now, it is now your turn to examine your conscience. Will you let the passions of the present outweigh national necessities? Will you let faction and career interests and ulterior motives of all sorts prevail over the grandeur and coherence of a programme chosen by millions of voters? " Fillon said, however he made no promises to battle on until the end.
After a string of resignations among advisers and backers, the 63-year-old Fillon had been banking on a big turnout at the rally, on a square looking across the river Seine to the Eiffel tower, to show his detractors that he remains their best hope to win the presidency.
Fillon will appear on France 2 television's Sunday evening news. A member of his staff said it would be an opportunity to "speak to the French."
Opinion polls continue to show Fillon would fail to make the second round of the April/May election.
Instead, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron is consolidating his position as favourite to win a second-round head-to-head against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
