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LeMonde
18 hours ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati's dangerous game
Rachida Dati wants to become the next mayor of Paris. It is her obsession. The more obstacles she faces, the more France's culture minister embraces transgression. On Monday, July 28, she announced she would run for the Assemblée Nationale's open seat in Paris's 2 nd constituency, without waiting for the decision of the conservative Les Républicains (LR) party, which chose to nominate Michel Barnier. It was an unelegant snub of the former prime minister under whom she served last year, reigniting the French right's old poison of division. It is hard to say whether she is still a member of LR or has now joined President Emmanuel Macron's camp. The former protégée of Nicolas Sarkozy now works for herself, and herself alone. Among the many adversaries she likes to make, Dati also counts judges. On Tuesday, July 22, she was ordered to stand criminal trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, over suspicions that she engaged in illegal lobbying in the European Parliament on behalf of Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Renault-Nissan, in exchange for €900,000 in fees. Dati counterattacked in pure Sarkozy style. Criticizing what she called a "procedure marred by incidents," she tried to put the prosecutor for financial crimes, Jean-François Bohnert, in an awkward position with the office over which he has authority. Prime Minister François Bayrou had to remind her of what she should not have pretended to ignore: Respect for the judicial institution is "a state duty." Protected by the president and supported by the current justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, Dati has no fans on the left. But she is also divisive within the right, the government, the president's party and other groups in the governing bloc. To some, she is an electoral asset not to be overlooked; to others, a dangerous firebrand ready to exploit every populist sentiment of the time: distrust of judges, the media, the elites, the "system." If passed, the "Paris-Lyon-Marseille" law modifying the methods of electing mayors in the three cities, currently under review in Parliament, would allow her to limit the influence of local power brokers who have opposed her rise in Paris ever since she established herself as mayor of the 7 th arrondissement. The free rein she has managed to carve out for herself by being both popular and disruptive is undeniable, but there are limits that must not be crossed. There is a whiff of Trumpism in the way Dati fights her political battles: there is only one truth, her own; threats against those who dare to question her, such as against the journalist Patrick Cohen on June 18 on the television show C à vous; heavy artillery against the judiciary. A year ahead of the 2027 presidential campaign, next March's municipal elections will provide an important indication of the tone of the political debate, especially as much of the right and far right now also target the judiciary and the rule of law. Banned from running for office for five years following her conviction of embezzlement, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has just stated that, in the event of new snap legislative elections, she would still stand as a candidate, intending to rely on her electoral base to put maximum pressure on the electoral judge and the Constitutional Council. In the past, such a statement would have sparked an outcry, but that is no longer the case today.
Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
Michel Barnier v Rachida Dati: the prize fight for Paris
When Michel Barnier stepped down as the EU's Brexit negotiator in 2021, observers assumed he was planning to retire to his country house in the wooded Sologne region south of Paris. They were wrong. He kept his main home in the capital's chic 7th arrondissement, where he has provoked an internecine war within his Republicans party by standing in a by-election against Rachida Dati, the tough-talking centre-right culture minister who dreams of becoming mayor of Paris next year. Dati is livid about what she views as his intrusion in her well-heeled backyard. Barnier does not seem to care. He has his eyes on bigger things. At the age of 74, he believes that his 'destiny' may be to unite a fractured, indebted, befuddled nation by becoming president. • Rachida Dati: why the most feared woman in Paris won't back down Barnier has pointedly refused to rule out entering the race to succeed President Macron in 2027 and, in the meantime, he is seeking to become an MP once more, 47 years after he first sat in the National Assembly. This week the Republicans named him as the candidate for an autumn by-election in a Parisian constituency considered so safe that 'you don't have to mess around handing out leaflets in markets', according to a senior member of the movement. Barnier's victory is a foregone conclusion, or at least it would be if Dati, 59, had not also decided to stand in the by-election. The confrontation between Dati, the child of north African immigrants who has fought her way up the political ladder, and Barnier, an old-school grandee who joined the movement as a teenager, has left political observers agog. On one side is Dati, who is often described as a glamorous French answer to President Trump. On the other is a painstakingly courteous, slightly antiquated politician who embodies everything Trump is not. Barnier's claim to the seat is based upon his residency in the constituency, which incorporates the 7th arrondissement, home to the Musée d'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower. Dati, however, views him as an outsider. Not only does she too have a flat in the arrondissement but she is also the district mayor. She accused Barnier of a 'lack of respect'. Republican leaders are worried that the war might not only cost them a safe seat in parliament, by splitting their vote, but also harm the party's standing in the country — just as it is starting to emerge from years in the electoral desert. Dati is convinced that Barnier wants to thwart her lifetime goal of becoming mayor of Paris in next year's council elections. Having lost to Anne Hidalgo, the socialist incumbent, six years ago, she is the pollsters' favourite. However, she remains a divisive figure who angered some in the party by joining Macron's centrist government in 2024. The announcement last week that judges are sending her for trial on corruption charges was a further blow, although she insists she is innocent. The suspicion in the Dati camp is that Barnier wants to push her aside in a show of force that would cement his presidential credentials. Some of her supporters also suspect that if the presidency proves out of reach for him, he may be tempted to stand as mayor of Paris instead. 'This [by-election] cannot be used to carry Michel Barnier's presidential ambitions,' said Dati. Suggesting that he was a pawn in a bigger game, she said he was 'being pushed by those who want to stop me winning Paris'. Barnier retorted: 'I'm too old to be manipulated.' He sought to portray himself as a unifying figure on the centre right and added that he was 'determined and humble'. Barnier said he had no intention of standing as mayor of Paris, suggesting it was the entire country and not just its capital that interested him. 'The moment is so serious that one must be on the bridge,' he said. In an interview with the TF1 television channel in June, he was asked whether he planned to run for the presidency in 2027. 'If circumstances and destiny mean that I must ask myself the question of whether to be a candidate, I will force myself to respond to three demands: am I up to it, do I have the right projects for France and can I bring people together?' he replied. He followed the interview with the publication of a book based on conversations with ordinary French people entitled Ce Que J'ai Appris de Vous (What I Learnt From You). In a country that believes its leaders need an intellectual veneer, a foray into literature is a prerequisite for high office. Barnier is the second most-popular politician in France behind Dominique de Villepin, 71, also a former centre-right prime minister, according to the Ifop polling institute. However, he remains an outsider for 2027, so much so that Ifop did not include him in its list of potential candidates when assessing voting intentions for the presidential election. His supporters are convinced that he has a chance in a wide open race. Marine Le Pen, 56, the populist-right National Rally leader, is ahead in the polls but has been barred from standing following a corruption conviction against which she is appealing. Jordan Bardella, 29, her protégé, would be well placed to replace her if she loses the appeal, according to pollsters, but is hampered by his inexperience. On the left, the centre and the centre right, there are plenty of potential runners but no clear favourites. • Embattled French PM risks public wrath by cutting two bank holidays Barnier tried to win the Republicans' nomination for the 2022 presidential election but was defeated by Valérie Pécresse, 58, the head of the Paris region council. She polled a pitiful 4.78 per cent to propel the party into the wilderness. At the time, Barnier was written off as a has-been by commentators. Three years later, however, he was appointed prime minister after Macron's ill-fated decision to call snap parliamentary elections resulted in a hung National Assembly and a political crisis. Barnier's premiership lasted a mere three months before his minority centre-right government fell in a no-confidence vote in December. The defeat was humiliating. This time, political analysts declared that his career really was over. Now he seeks to prove them wrong again.
Euractiv
a day ago
- Politics
- Euractiv
Paris elections morph into political minefield for Macron and the French right
PARIS – The battle to represent Paris's poshest district has erupted into a political family feud, pitting EU heavyweight Michel Barnier against scandal-hit minister Rachida Dati – and creating a political headache for Emmanuel Macron. This week, ex-EU Brexit negotiator Barnier secured the backing of France's conservative party, Les Républicains (LR), to run in a key parliamentary by-election in the capital's wealthy 7th arrondissement. But the decision triggered a furious response from Rachida Dati – another LR big beast and mayor of the 7th arrondissement – who refused to back down and immediately announced she would run against Barnier in the September vote. Dati, who also serves as culture minister in Macron's cabinet had hoped to win support from both LR and Macron's Renaissance party to also become the capital's mayor in next spring's elections. The post is a frequent launchpad for higher national office. However, recent allegations of corruption are undermining her chances. The race is now exposing divisions among major figures on the French right, as the party's nominating committee sought to ease tensions on Monday by describing Dati as the strongest voice for change in Paris after it had earlier endorsed Barnier's nomination bid. Barnier, for his part, assured that he had no mayoral ambitions in the capital. A political headache Dati's ascent from a working-class immigrant background to minister made her a powerful symbol for the conservative right. Her 2024 entry into Macron's cabinet reflected both her personal clout and the president's need to revitalise his party after electoral setbacks and gain ground in urban strongholds like Paris. Macron's party is indeed still hoping to win control of a major city, as it lacks a strong local power base. At the same time, LR is eager to reclaim Paris – once a conservative bastion under former President Jacques Chirac – according to Bruno Cautrès, a political scientist at Sciences Po. 'They both need a candidate who can stand out, but also one who isn't entangled in legal affairs,' he said. Dati is accused of accepting €900,000 in consultancy fees in 2012 from a subsidiary of Renault-Nissan while serving as a member of the European Parliament. Dati, who has denied any wrongdoing, sat in the Parliament from 2009 to 2019 – a period during which lobbying by elected officials was tightly regulated. Her case is unlikely to be resolved before the September by-election and the 2026 Paris mayoral election. A polarising figure Dati is a divisive figure for both LR and Macron's camp. Her surprise candidacy was seen as a power move ahead of the mayoral race, but LR quickly backed Barnier instead, viewing him as a steadier, less controversial choice. Within Macron's camp, the dilemma is even more acute. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, himself a former LR member, has publicly endorsed Dati. But others are increasingly uneasy about the risks she represents. Former Europe Minister Clément Beaune criticised Dati's attacks on the judiciary – after she accused magistrates of targeting her for political reasons – warning that 'we are not in Trump's America,' during a national television appearance. One senior Renaissance official, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that 'half the activists [of Macron's movement] in Paris would quit' if asked to campaign for her, arguing that she represents everything Macron's movement was meant to oppose. 'Macron rose to power in 2017 on a promise of radical reform, a break from traditional party politics, and a commitment to irreproachable ethics,' said a former MP from his party. 'He dismissed four ministers – including François Bayrou, then education minister and now prime minister – over allegations just as serious as the ones Dati is facing today.' A narrowing path for Macron Yet Macron has no better option. Dati remains one of the few politicians with name recognition, electoral experience, and a functioning political machine on the ground – qualities that make her hard to ignore, despite her legal and political baggage. Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister now leading Renaissance, has notably remained silent on Dati's most recent moves. But she might also need his backing if she hopes to become Macron's official candidate. 'The mayoral election will reflect the reshaping of French political life,' said Stéphane Zumsteeg, director of political research at Ipsos. 'It's also a litmus test for whether traditional parties still control their flanks.' With both Dati and Barnier expected to run, some polls already indicate a potential split in the centre-right and conservative vote – a scenario that could ultimately benefit the left. Others see it as a crash test for Macron's already fragile alliance with the right. 'This whole thing is starting to look like a revealing mirror of Macron's party's unpreparedness for the election,' said the senior member of the president's movement, speaking on condition of anonymity. And with a presidential race looming in 2027, the stakes in Paris are higher than ever. (mm, cs)
LeMonde
7 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
French culture minister's corruption trial complicates Paris' political landscape
More than the order for Culture Minister Rachida Dati to stand trial for alleged corruption and influence peddling on Tuesday, July 22, it was her fierce attacks on the judges in response to the decision that stunned France's political class. "When you are a public official, when you are a minister, you don't attack judges. We are not Trump's America; we are the French Republic," said Clément Beaune, a former MP for Paris from Macron's Renaissance party, speaking on France 2 on Wednesday. Pierre-Yves Bournazel, the center-right Horizons party's candidate for the Paris mayoral elections, also criticized Dati, who will likely be one of his rivals in the race for city hall: "Dati's constant drama cannot be the alpha and omega of the Paris campaign," said Bournazel, who wants to "bring the project back to the center of the debate" and presents himself as a "bulwark against the Trump-ification of Parisian political life." President Emmanuel Macron and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke out in support of Dati, and their statements even provoked reactions within their own camp. "The fact that the president and the justice minister, both responsible for the proper functioning of the judiciary, rushed to the rescue of Ms. Dati, shocks all those for whom the promise of irreproachable ethics and the renewal of political practices heavily influenced their decision to join Emmanuel Macron in 2017," said Gilles Le Gendre, a former Renaissance MP for Paris. "A minister must leave the government when charged," Macron had said in 2017.
Express Tribune
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
France's culture minister to be tried on corruption charges
France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati is to go on trial accused of corruption and abuse of power while she was a European Parliament member, a judicial source told AFP on Tuesday. Dati, a high-profile minister who holds ambitions to become Paris mayor next year, was placed under investigation in 2019 on suspicion she lobbied for the Renault-Nissan car group while at the European Union institution. French investigating magistrates also ordered that Carlos Ghosn, the former Renault-Nissan chairman and chief executive, be tried, a judicial source said. Ghosn, 71, who has been living in Lebanon for years after escaping arrest in Japan, has rejected the charges against him. Dati, 59, also denies the allegations, and lashed out at some of the investigating magistrates on her case, accusing them of "trampling" on her rights. "I condemn magistrates who refuse to do their job according to the code of procedure," she told news channel LCI, denouncing what she called a case "marred by incidents". "I will not give up, on anything," added Dati, who is mayor of the French capital's seventh district, home to most French ministries, the country's parliament and many foreign embassies. Dati is accused of accepting 900,000 euros ($1 million) in lawyer's fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, but not working for them, while she was an MEP from 2009 to 2019. Her lawyers told AFP they would appeal the decision to place her on trial. Dati, a daughter of working-class North African immigrants, has accused enemies of "trying to attack me over my private life". A powerful political player who was justice minister under right-wing leader Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2009, Dati will remain in the government, said an associate of President Emmanuel Macron. "The president has taken note of the decision to refer Rachida Dati to the criminal court. As a referral is not a conviction, she will continue her work," said the associate, speaking on condition of anonymity. Investigations have sought to determine whether she carried out banned lobbying for the carmaker at the European Parliament. Initially placed under the more favourable status of assisted witness — a step before being indicted — in 2019, Dati was charged in 2021.
