Hajer M'tırı
03 August 2017•Update: 04 August 2017
By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
France's lower house of parliament on Thursday adopted a major part of President Emmanuel Macron's legislative plan to clean up French politics.
The National Assembly's vote comes a day after the Senate -- the upper house of parliament -- approved part of the law, one of Macron's presidential campaign promises.
A second part of the law, which includes scrapping a constituency fund for lawmakers, will be voted upon on Aug. 9 because of Senate objections.
The law suggested by Macron's ally, leader of the Democratic Movement Party, Francois Bayrou, includes "the prohibition of nepotism for parliamentarians", especially after a fictitious-jobs scandal hurt the candidacy of conservative presidential hopeful Francois Fillon earlier this year.
Under the legislation, elected members and ministers would be banned from hiring close family members; violators could face three years in jail and a fine of €45,000 ($53,400).
The law includes also measures to fight conflicts of interest among lawmakers and Senators, as well as cracking down on financial corruption.
Separately, an opinion poll published by YouGov on Thursday showed Macron's popularity dropping in July by seven points, compared to the previous month.
