And five. Rachida Dati becomes the fifth minister of culture under the Emmanuel Macron presidency, in barely seven years. It is an understatement to say that the cultural community did not expect this appointment of Nicolas Sarkozy’s former Minister of Justice and considers itself more than tired of this waltz of ministers on Rue de Valois. Like her predecessors, Rima Abdul Malak was dismissed less than two years after taking office.
“Since Nicolas Sarkozy, in seventeen years, there have been ten holders of this position, this weakens ministerial action”, regrets Jean-Jacques Aillagon, former minister of culture under Jacques Chirac. “I am very sad about his departure”does not hide Pascal Rogard, general director of the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD). “This waltz is terrible, you have to start all over again every time, it’s a waste of time and it shows that culture is a kind of rattle”he laments.
Same regret for Hervé Rony, general director of the Civil Society of Multimedia Authors (SCAM): “The Ministry of Culture continues to suffer from harmful instability”he lamented on X (formerly Twitter). “What ambition to change every two years at best? We can fundamentally question the president’s interest in this sector”scolds Mr. Rony.
Same question for Nicolas Dubourg, president of the National Union of Artistic and Cultural Enterprises (Syndeac, the leading organization of employers in the public sector). According to him, this reshuffle “is confirmation of the President of the Republic’s lack of consideration for this ministry. We are witnessing stability at Bercy and the Ministry of the Interior, but culture and national education are becoming ministries of political adjustment. The disrepute for these major public services shows to what extent liberal ideology dominates.”
“The culture deserved better than this”
“My arms are falling”, said Pierre Ouzoulias, communist senator, bluntly. Castigating a political coup – “culture deserved better than that” –, this active member of the culture committee in the Senate would like to salute Rima Abdul Malak, “a minister of culture of conviction”. “She thought of culture as a means of human emancipation and bringing people togetherregrets the senator. Thanks to our fruitful discussions, heritage legislation was enriched with two laws on restitution. The last one on colonial spoliations may be more difficult to achieve…”
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