France's point man in charge of President Emmanuel Macron's pension system reform resigned Monday after media reports showed he failed to declare multiple positions in organizations, including think tanks and trade groups.
Jean-Paul Delevoye, the 72-year-old civil servant who's been preparing Mr. Macron's reform for two years, tendered his resignation, and the French presidency said he would soon be replaced.
The lifetime civil servant admitted he held paid and unpaid advisory jobs and board seats in 13 organizations while holding a public mandate, which is forbidden by law. The information was first revealed last week by French daily newspaper Le Parisien. He told Le Monde newspaper Dec. 14 that he "didn't pay enough attention" to his declaration of interests when he took the pensions reform job.
Mr. Delevoye's resignation and the revelation of his wrongdoing come at a difficult moment for Mr. Macron. His government is bracing for a third day of nationwide marches Tuesday as protesters plan rally to oppose his overhaul of the pension system. The country is struggling as public workers started a third week of strikes that have created havoc in public transportation.
Several previous governments have tried to pass pension reform and eventually abandoned the efforts in the face of public opposition to their attempts.
The pension reform crafted by Mr. Delevoye is the pinnacle of Mr. Macron's efforts to modernize France and was a cornerstone of his campaign platform. The Delevoye led project aims at gradually merging 42 different public pension systems and encouraging people to work longer.
