Ministers must tell all on wealth

ALL members of the government will have to publish details of their financial holdings before April 15 in a bid to improve public confidence after the Cahuzac scandal.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said this would be followed on April 24 by a proposal for a law on financial transparency that would be put to parliament for approval before the summer.

He and President Hollande are scrambling to rebuild confidence in politicians with the move to expose possible conflicts between public and private interests.

Ayrault said: "I think that it is right that those who exercise a public responsibility, ministers, parliamentarians and even elected officials of large councils, reveal their wealth.”

He added that it was already common in other countries such as in Scandinavia and the US.

Details of ministers’ declarations will be published on the Matignon website on Monday. Several members of the government have already given details, including Minister for the Disabled Marie-Arlette Carlotti and Housing Minister Cécile Duflot.

On the opposition benches, UMP challenger François Fillon has revealed that he owns a house in Sarthe that he bought 20 years ago for €440,000, less than €100,000 in savings and two cars that are more than 10 years old.

His rival, party president Jean-François Copé, denounced what he called “voyeurism and hypocrisy” and said he would not give any details until after the law was passed – on condition that “it contains means of verifying what is declared”.