While Macron tries to clean up politics, his ministers face corruption probe
EMMANUEL MACRON’S cabinet yesterday put the finishing touches to his first major legislation, a bill to clean up French politics, under the cloud of corruption investigations into several of his ministers.
Hours before François Bayrou, the justice minister, unveiled the anti-corruption bill, he was forced to deny allegations that he had misused European Parliament funds to pay his personal assistant. Mr Bayrou, who is under investigation over the claims, told French radio that media reports that his centrist Modem movement had created fake jobs for party workers as MEPS’ assistants were untrue.
The fictitious jobs “never existed”, Mr Bayrou said after the Canard Enchaîné weekly reported that his former personal assistant, Karine Aouadj, had been paid with EU money but “never worked for Europe”. According to the paper, Ms Aouadj worked for Mr Bayrou while she was officially hired as an assistant for a Modem MEP, Marielle de Sarnez, now minister for European affairs. She is also under investigation over the allegations. Modem is allied with the president’s party, La République En Marche.
Richard Ferrand, the territorial cohesion minister, faces a separate investigation into his past business practices. All three ministers deny any wrongdoing and are on course to be elected in the second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, expected to be a landslide for Mr Macron’s party.
The new bill, intended to mark a break with years of political corruption scandals, would ban MPS and ministers from hiring family members, a longstanding practice. About 100 of France’s 577 MPS employed a relative during the last parliamentary term. François Fillon, once the conservative favourite to win the presidential election, was easily beaten by Mr Macron after his campaign foundered over allegations that he paid his British wife and two of their children for fake jobs.
The bill would introduce stiffer penalties for corruption, including a 10year ban on holding public office, and stricter rules to prevent conflicts of interest. The legislation is expected to pass easily.