French parliament bans jobs for family members of lawmakers, ministers

The order came months after conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon was hit by a scandal over his wife’s job as his aide.

France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, voted 383 to three with 48 abstentions in favour of a law that reinforces political ethics, something President Emmanuel Macron pledged during his election campaign.

Under the law, ministers, lawmakers and mayors would be barred from employing their own spouses, parents or children, and those convicted of certain offenses will be ineligible for election to parliament.

The bill has already been passed by the Senate, but the two houses are at odds on an accompanying act which has to be passed separately because of its constitutional implications.

The centre-right majority in the Senate objected to a provision in the second law abolishing discretionary funds that lawmakers can distribute to local entities.

The law is now likely to be passed by the National Assembly coming week, using its power to overrule the Senate.

Thursday’s vote came a day after another key Macron commitment, to reform the country’s complex labour code by decree, was given the green light by parliament.

Macron’s rise to second place in the opinion polls during the election campaign came after satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaine alleged that Fillon’s wife Penelope had taken a salary as her husband’s parliamentary assistant for years without actually working.

Report says those and other allegations against Fillon are currently being investigated by judges. (dpa/NAN)