François Fillon, the conservative favourite to win the French presidency, has been forced on the defensive after fumbling an attempt to retract a pledge to cut funding for basic healthcare.
The Republicans party candidate bowed to public outrage, deleted his pledge to farm out minor health costs to private insurance from his website and denied that he had ever made it.
“Never did I want to, or would I want to, ‘privatise health insurance’,” the former prime minister said. Until Tuesday, his campaign site said: “I propose focusing universal public insurance on serious and long-term illnesses, and focusing private insurance on the rest.”
The volte-face from the rural MP drew ridicule from his centre-left opponents and fuelled doubts about his credibility in a centre-right camp worried that his “Thatcherite” plans were alienating voters.
“It’s hard to fathom just what he is saying at this stage,” said Marine Le Pen, the National Front candidate, who mocked Mr Fillon’s U-turn and said that his plans for cutting social security cover made her feel sick. “I hope it will pass quickly because I’m told digestive troubles are among the ‘small ailments’ that would no longer be covered.”
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An Odoxa survey showed that nine out of ten respondents opposed cutting public spending on health.
“This programme is worrying, intimidating and confusing,” said Marisol Touraine, the health minister.
Mr Fillon has also been criticised for his support for President Putin.
Manuel Valls, the former prime minister, who is likely to become the Socialist candidate next month, said that Mr Fillon’s move was a cynical one. “Mr Fillon’s manifesto consists of less independence for France in the face of Russia and hard prospects for the French with the basics of our social model cast into doubt.”
Polls suggest that Mr Fillon is best placed to win the election against the far right and a fractured and discredited left-wing camp, but a survey yesterday showed that he was not liked by a majority of the public.
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An Ifop poll for Le Journal du Dimanche suggested that 55 per cent believed that he would win the election but only 28 per cent wanted him as president. His biggest support comes from the over-65s, who are 50 per cent behind him. Of the respondents, 62 per cent were worried by his promise to cut welfare cover.
Many voters, including many from Mr Fillon’s own party, described him as an out-of-touch, upper- middle-class country dweller who did not understand their problems.
Mr Fillon has spent the past two weeks trying to rally support from his former rivals, Alain Juppé and Nicolas Sarkozy, but they have not given him full backing. “The start of Fillon’s campaign has been a struggle. There’s no clear direction,” said one of Mr Juppé’s lieutenants. “The winning strategy can’t just consist of sitting on your favourite’s laurels.”
