“This ministry is a pedestal for Rachida Dati for the municipal elections”… While late Thursday afternoon, the political world was buzzing with rumors announcing the arrival of the leader of the Parisian right to the government, Pierre-Yves Bournazel, a Paris advisor who saw himself taking the head of the Macronist camp for 2026, fumes. A deal has indeed been concluded, like the title Le Monde : yes, she will enter the government, but in exchange we will have to give her a clear path for the next municipal elections, without putting a candidate in front. And she will keep her place as leader of the right in Paris.
A calculation made by the Head of State himself, according to Les Echos: “It was from Emmanuel Macron himself that the idea of appointing Rachida Dati (indicted) to Culture was born. It was he who led the discussion, also offering to be his candidate in Paris in 2026. The Elysée only notified Attal at the end of the day. » The president would have judged the Macronist camp incapable of obtaining first place on the podium on its own. He may also have wanted to punish Clément Beaune, the former Minister of Transport who had just left the government, who had organized the rebellion over the Immigration Law, and presented himself as the best candidate for rebirth for Paris.
Will his exclusion from the party block his path to municipal elections?
On the left, we doubt the viability of this calculation, and we point out the fact that the new Minister of Culture has just been unloaded by her party. “It will be complicated to remain president of the LR group while being excluded from the LR,” says Anne Hidalgo’s entourage. The day before, the boss of the Parisian right had, according to our information, announced during a video to the mayors and LR parliamentarians of the capital that everything had been agreed with Eric Ciotti, who would not have issued a veto, even guaranteeing him that She could stay with LR and simply ask him to resign from the presidency of the national council. The right-wing party now displays its “exclusion”. “The LR mayors have stated their intention that Rachida Dati continues to chair her group, in my opinion that does not pose any difficulties, but I hope that we arrive at a more peaceful situation, because the term of exclusion seems strong to me », Comments Jean-Pierre Lecoq, mayor of the 6th.
Not sure that being excluded from her camp really blocks the way for the go-getter Rachida Dati. “I wish good luck to an LR candidate who would run against Rachida Dati in 2026,” quips Jean-Pierre Lecoq, who points out the fact that the right-wing group in the Paris Council, Changer Paris, is already broader than just the elected officials The Republicans. “If we want to win we have to learn the lessons of 2020. We lost because Agnès Buzyn’s litses [candidate Renaissance] remained in the second round. Particularly in the swing districts of the 12th and 14th. If Dati’s entry into government allows us to broaden the base, it’s rather intelligent,” comments David Alphand, vice-president of the Changer Paris group.
Indictment
On the other hand, Rachida Dati does not appear particularly in odor of holiness with the cultural environment. “The world of Culture expresses its absolute incomprehension regarding the appointment of a right-wing woman who has no real experience for this ministry” said an advisor to the outgoing minister to TF1. “Good luck to those in the world of culture given the trials they will go through,” reacted the mayor of Paris. “It’s sad to take culture hostage, which is not a secondary sector, to carry out small political operations,” comments Ian Brossat, communist senator and co-president of the communist group at the Council of Paris.
Even more surprising, the new minister has been indicted since July 2021 for “corruption and passive influence peddling by a person invested with a public elective mandate”. A fact that his opponents immediately highlighted. “Before, an indicted minister had to resign. Now an indictment for corruption can be appointed minister,” commented the first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire, in the running to succeed Anne Hidalgo. A fact brushed aside by the new Prime Minister, who highlighted the “presumption of innocence”.
She castigated the “traitors”
The nomination of Rachida Dati for Culture is all the more surprising that she castigated yesterday the “left-wing traitors and right-wing traitors” who rallied around the head of state. Especially since Dati said he wanted to devote himself to Paris. “She betrayed her commitments,” points out Pierre-Yves Bournazel. But the elected official is perhaps seeking to increase her popularity among public opinion, and perhaps also to secure networks in which she does not excel, as some commentators point out.
On the left, Nicolas Sarkozy’s former minister had surprising support from Alice Coffin, who not without having emphasized that she was the leader of a right representing “the worst that is happening on the anti-ecological and anti-social level”, praised his courage and his words. “She is one of the extremely rare female politicians who are not afraid of men,” underlined Alice Coffin, while the world of culture is shaken by several cases of sexual violence. And the elected environmentalist concludes: “I ask Rachida Dati to use her words to put them out of harm’s way. »