France's embattled justice chief, François Bayrou, unveils clean politics bill

France's government is presenting a bill on cleaning up political ethics after years of corruption scandals - even as investigations haunt members of President Emmanuel Macron's new government.

Justice Minister François Bayrou is unveiling the draft law on "restoring trust" in politics Wednesday to the Cabinet, the first major legislation by Macron's administration.

It's expected to easily pass parliament, where Macron's party is on track to win a crushing majority in elections Sunday.

Yet the bill, a key Macron campaign promise, is already clouded.

Bayrou's centrist party Modem is under investigation for possible misuse of European Parliament funds. The minister for European affairs is among several French politicians facing a similar probe. And the territorial cohesion minister is under investigation for his past business practices. They all deny wrongdoing.

(AP)

Date created : 2017-06-14