French defence minister resigns amid fake jobs probe

French Defence Minister Sylvie Goulard has resigned from President Emmanuel Macron's government amid a preliminary investigation into her party's potentially fictitious employment of parliamentary assistants, local media reports said.

Goulard, who was appointed by President Macron last month, termed her resignation as an act of "good faith" and said that she doesn't want the investigation to hurt Macron's efforts to clean up corruption in politics.

Goulard's resignation comes ahead of a cabinet reshuffle which was likely to be announced on Wednesday following Macron's centrist La Republique en Marche movement winning a significant majority in parliament.

As a Member of the European Parliament, Goulard has also served as a member of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and ALDE group coordinator, as well as a substitute member of the Committee for Constitutional Affairs Member of the European Parliament.

-ANI