French government wants to scrap 25% of parliament seats

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron’s government wants to shrink the country’s parliament by 25% as part of an overhaul of French institutions.

Now it’s up to legislators themselves to approve.

The government introduced a draft law Wednesday that would reduce the number of seats in the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, from 577 to 433. The Senate would go from 348 to 261 members.

That’s still more than the 535-member U.S. Congress.

The bill also allows for 20% of seats to be based on party lists instead of individual candidates.

Both moves were promised by Macron during the 2017 presidential campaign, which was marred by corruption scandals around parliamentary spending involving rival candidates.

Many voters embraced the proposals, but Macron’s critics say they could further strengthen the president’s powers.