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Newly appointed French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal surprised French political and media circles on Thursday by naming controversial politician Rashida Dati as culture minister.
Given that Dati served as press secretary for centre-right President Nicolas Sarkozy during the presidential campaign and served as Minister of Justice from 2007 to 2009, the new centrist Cabinet Her appointment was unexpected.
The appointment comes as part of a government reshuffle just two days after President Emmanuel Macron took over as France’s youngest prime minister in a bid to reboot the presidency. This presidency began as a center-left mandate, but it is now moving. Turn the dial to the right.
Dati has been at odds with Macron over his proposal to strip Gerard Depardieu of his Légion d’Honneur in light of multiple sexual assault accusations and opposition over controversial new immigrants, and his position has shifted in recent weeks. He will replace Rima Abdul Malak, who has been in jeopardy. Law.
After serving as Minister of Justice, Dati served as a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2019.
Most recently, Dati ran as candidate for the liberal-conservative Republican Party (LR) in the 2020 Paris mayoral election, challenging the incumbent left-wing mayor, Anne Hidalgo.
Although she lost, she became mayor of Paris’s upscale 7th arrondissement. The 7th arrondissement is one of the wealthiest districts in the French capital and is also home to the Eiffel Tower.
Born in France as the second of 12 children to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother and raised in a tough working-class estate in Burgundy, Dati was the first Muslim to hold a major government post in France. She was a religious woman.
The politician has rarely followed a traditional path in either his private or public life.
In 2009, she returned to work as Minister of Justice less than a week after giving birth to her first and only child, declaring that maternity leave was for wimps, and making headlines not only at home but around the world. It made headlines inside.
Dati raised her daughter single-handedly and did not reveal the identity of her father.
Most recently, Mr. Dati has been embroiled in an investigation into consulting fees he received from partnerships with France’s Renault and Japan’s Nissan Motor Company while he was a lawmaker.
In 2021, she was charged with “passive corruption by a person holding an electoral mandate” and “gaining from abuse of power” in connection with allegations that the funds were in exchange for lobbying in the European Parliament. It was done. Mr Dati categorically denied her allegations.
The French financial prosecutor’s office is expected to make a decision on whether to proceed with the case in the coming weeks, after the investigation was completed in September last year.
