Transparency has the unique quality of costing nothing… and it would greatly benefit democracy! Following the Cahuzac affair, three deputies from the Alpes-Maritimes disclosed their asset declarations… Let’s be frank: it doesn’t serve much purpose.
Indeed, an asset declaration is intended to detect any suspicious enrichment. It only has value if it can be compared with another… one that will be provided at the end of the term, for example!
In any case, a truly transparency-loving elected official will also make public the total amount of their function allowances and detail their usage. They will additionally reveal the recipients of their excess payment (amount exceeding the authorized ceiling).
Similarly, they will disclose benefits in kind that they receive: housing, car, equipment, assistants, etc. Finally, as in Sweden, they will make public their various expense reports.
They will take care to specify if they have benefited a family member with a position as an assistant or a public job.
To prevent conflicts of interest, they will declare their various professional activities and financial holdings.
To better regulate lobbying activities, they will not forget to indicate the invitations, trips, travel, and gifts they have accepted.
It is important to emphasize that all this information can be voluntarily provided by an elected official, without waiting for a hypothetical law to impose it on them.
