French president pushes Paris Olympic bid, vets ministers
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is building a new government he hopes will have more gender balance, fewer positions and be less subject to scandal as it carries out his plans to overhaul the country’s labour laws and politics.
The government will be formally presented on Wednesday. Macron’s office delayed the announcement, initially expected Tuesday, while authorities check the tax records and backgrounds of ministerial candidates for potential conflicts of interest.
Macron won the May 7 presidential runoff in part on promises to clean up the corruption and stagnation ascribed to traditional parties. He said he would require his ministers to sign a commitment to “integrity and morality.”
The 5-year term of his immediate predecessor, Socialist President Francois Hollande, was tarnished early on by financial scandals.