French cabinet ministers look for a 2nd job
It ain't moonlighting,
either.
The justice minister wants to be a mayor. So does
the finance minister. And the culture minister. And the government
spokesman.
The races for France’s municipal elections in March have not even started, but nearly two-thirds of the 33 members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet have already transformed themselves into part-time politicians, declaring that they deserve to be the next mayors and deputy mayors of France.
In a peculiarly French practice called “accumulation of mandates,” certain government officials are allowed to hold more than one elected office. The minister-mayor phenomenon largely was eliminated as unseemly during the era of President Jacques Chirac (who had served simultaneously as prime minister and mayor of Paris). But it has been proudly revived by Sarkozy as a way to expand his government’s influence.
It is also a way to keep power at the top. “You have to understand that France is still a sort of elected monarchy…”
Uh, OK.
The races for France’s municipal elections in March have not even started, but nearly two-thirds of the 33 members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet have already transformed themselves into part-time politicians, declaring that they deserve to be the next mayors and deputy mayors of France.
In a peculiarly French practice called “accumulation of mandates,” certain government officials are allowed to hold more than one elected office. The minister-mayor phenomenon largely was eliminated as unseemly during the era of President Jacques Chirac (who had served simultaneously as prime minister and mayor of Paris). But it has been proudly revived by Sarkozy as a way to expand his government’s influence.
It is also a way to keep power at the top. “You have to understand that France is still a sort of elected monarchy…”
Uh, OK.
Posted: Sun - January 13, 2008 at 02:41 PM