French politicians of all political stripes began disclosing their assets publicly this week in the wake of a tax-evasion scandal that has rocked the government of President François Hollande and reinforced widely held perceptions in France that leaders are corrupt, reports France 24.
In a primetime television interview on Monday, former prime minister François Fillon, a leading member of the conservative opposition UMP party, revealed his personal wealth on the air, but expressed disdain for such an initiative.
“Even if I don’t like this voyeurism, I will publish my assets disclosure document, which I have already done for many years at the beginning and at the end of my term in the National Assembly,” Fillon, who is also an MP representing Paris, told France 2 TV.
Fillon also criticised President Hollande for championing a so-called moralisation of politics bill, the details of which his Socialist government said it would reveal on April 24 and vote on during the summer.
The new bill is expected to bar those found guilty of corruption from running for office, but especially force elected leaders and public officials to further disclose their and their families’ assets and interests. It will likely carry stiffer sanctions, including prison time, for those who lie about assets or fail to disclose them fully.
French MPs must already reveal the state of their finances to a government body – not to the public – at the start and end of each mandate, and face fines of up to 30,000 euros for providing false information.
Last week, former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac admitted he lied to parliament and the press about a secret Swiss bank account where he hid away at least 600,000 euros from the French taxman.
As a prelude to Hollande’s new, stiffer disclosure measures the president has obliged his entire cabinet to lay their worldly possessions bare by April 15.
Read more of this report from France 24.