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Former French prime minister Francois Fillon has complained of a "plot" against him, amid media revelations he sought to interfere in legal procedures against Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival in the right-wing opposition.
Leading daily Le Monde claimed that Fillon had in June urged President Francois Hollande's chief of staff to push along the several legal complaints against ex-president Sarkozy.
"Hit him quickly, hit him quickly ... you know if you don't hit him quickly, you'll see him come back, so do it," Fillon is alleged to have told Jean-Pierre Jouyet, Hollande's right-hand man at the Elysee Palace.
Fillon has denied this and the former prime minister under Sarkozy's presidency, who hopes to run as the candidate of the right-wing UMP in the 2017 presidential election, hit out in the Journal du Dimanche weekly.
"I can only see in these incredible attacks an attempt at destabilisation and a plot," complained Fillon on Sunday.
He has said he will sue for defamation against two Le Monde reporters, who made the claims in a book, as well as the daily itself.
On Sunday, Fillon told French television that Jouyet was lying.
Fillon, Sarkozy and former PM Alain Juppe are the three main UMP candidates likely to run against the embattled Hollande and high-flying far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in 2017.
The three men used to work closely together. During Sarkozy's presidency, Fillon was prime minister and Juppe was foreign minister. Jouyet, meanwhile, straddles the two camps. Chief of staff to Socialist Hollande, he was a junior minister in Fillon's UMP government.
In a statement, Jouyet acknowledged that Fillon had shared with him his "serious worries" about the so-called Bygmalion affair, which relates to the financing of Sarkozy's 2012 campaign. Jouyet said he had stressed to Fillon that the presidency would not make "any intervention" in a legal case.
Hollande's chief of staff had on Thursday denied that Fillon had mentioned Sarkozy's legal woes.
Another UMP presidential candidate, Bruno Le Maire, on Sunday said Jouyet had "lied to the French people" and called for his resignation, in a French television discussion.
Sarkozy, who announced his comeback to front-line politics in September, is mired in a host of legal woes, notably over the financing of his 2012 presidential campaign.
He has criss-crossed France in a bid to drum up support for his bid to win the UMP presidency - which he intends to use as a springboard for the 2017 election - but polls show he has failed to inspire voters. The turmoil in the opposition has also failed to benefit Hollande, the most unpopular president in French history, according to polls.


Ex-French premier Francois Fillon complains of 'plot' against him

Francois Fillon (left) and Nicolas Sarkozy. Photos: AFP

Francois Fillon (left) and Nicolas Sarkozy.Photos: AFP

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Fillon denies claims he urged president's office to push legal complaints against Sarkozy


Former French prime minister Francois Fillon has complained of a "plot" against him, amid media revelations he sought to interfere in legal procedures against Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival in the right-wing opposition.


Ex-French premier Francois Fillon complains of 'plot' against him

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Fillon denies claims he urged president's office to push legal complaints against Sarkozy

Fillon denies claims he urged president's office to push legal complaints against Sarkozy