Fillon's election campaign suffers another blow as top aides resign

French conservative Francois Fillon's campaign has suffered another blow, following a string of resignations among some of his top aides. Both his campaign chief and his chief spokesperson quit on Friday.

Despite mounting pressure after corruption allegations, Fillon is refusing to withdraw from the election. His supporters are planning a rally near the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, and Fillon himself tweeted a video plea for people to show up to support him.

Fillion is facing an investigation over public funds paid to his wife and children for work they allegedly didn't do.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic has this report.

Meanwhile, an apparent threat by far-right leader Marine le Pen to punish state employees who "persecute" political opponents may have eroded her support, according to a poll which found her first-round lead in France's presidential election slipping.

The poll of voting intentions by research firm BVA found Le Pen garnering 26 percent of the votes in April's first round, down 1.5 percent from the last BVA poll on February 23.

It found independent centrist Emmanuel Macron gaining momentum, rising three points to 24 percent.

Conservative rival Francois Fillon remained at 19 percent and would therefore be eliminated from a second-round runoff to be held in May, in which Macron was seen defeating Le Pen by 62 percent to her 38.