Political marketing and media saturation are not enough for Emmanuel Macron to easily convince the French that he has a solid project until 2027. A few hours had passed since his long press conference at the Elysee on Tuesday night when he arrived the shock: the new Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, confessed that her real goal is to win the mayoralty of Paris in 2026.
Dati's statements, shocking for someone who has just assumed a position of such importance, were added to another serious incident, days ago, starring the head of Education, Sports, Youth and Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa- Castéra, who revolted the teaching community and the unions in the sector when she declared, shortly after she was appointed, that she had taken her children out of the public school and put them in the private school due to the continuous absences of teachers.
The announcement of Dati, Macron's controversial signing from The Republicans (right), was surprising because it confirms the feeling that the Ministry of Culture is, for her, nothing more than a springboard. "Everyone knows, I'm not hiding behind anything, my goal is Paris," said Dati, who was Minister of Justice under Nicolas Sarkozy, in an interview with the RTL channel. "I don't have the stench of the gazelle," he added, quoting a famous phrase from the left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Dati intends to continue as mayor of district 7 of the capital, from where she has led an implacable opposition to the socialist Anne Hidalgo and her coalition with the environmentalists and the communists in the City Council. Hidalgo spoke badly of Dati when he learned that she was entering the Government, and accused her of having introduced insults and insults to the Parisian Consistory. The new minister again criticized the management in Paris and recalled that every year the city loses 15,000 inhabitants.
Dati, who was Nicolas Sarkozy's Minister of Justice 15 years ago, has filled many front pages and has been the undisputed star of the new Government. Choosing her was an image blow, although it could have destabilizing consequences. The spokeswoman for the Executive, Prisca Thevenot, reacted yesterday looking to remove iron. "That Rachida Datisigui is a free, committed and action-oriented woman is not something that can be discovered now - said Thevenot in front of the microphones of France Info-. To me, it seems rather positive that a woman claims her freedom in a world where it is precisely needed".
Macron has denied that there was a secret deal with Dati to propel her to Paris in 2024, but at the press conference he was in favor of changing the electoral system of the municipals in the capital, as well as in Lyon and Marseille, made which can benefit the right, so that the mayors are elected by direct universal suffrage. The conservatives have always complained that, especially in Paris, the complex election system, based on the districts, has harmed them and enthroned Hidalgo without real majority support.
