Eric Woerth, former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy and president of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, announced on Wednesday 9 February 2022 in Le Parisien his support for Emmanuel Macron for the 2022 presidential election. He does not stand behind the candidate nominated by his party, Valérie Pécresse. The president of the Republicans asked him to leave the party - FILE - Former prime minister and presidential election candidate for the right-wing 'Les Republicains' (LR) political party Francois Fillon, flanked by Eric Woerth, waves to his supporters at a campaign rally on February 15, 2017 in Compiegne, France. Mr Fillon's campaign has been flailing since weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine revealed that his wife and children were paid public funds for allegedly fake jobs as his parliamentary aides. On Tuesday, Le Canard Enchaine reported that Mr Fillon’s spokesman, Thierry Solere, was the target of a tax fraud investigation. Photo by Christian Liewig/ABACAPRESS.COM