This Wednesday in France, the names of Rachida Dati, former Minister of Culture under Gabriel Attal, and Manuel Valls, former Prime Minister of François Hollande who has moved to the hard right, are being mentioned to occupy the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in Michel Barnier’s government.
When we think of Rachida Dati, it is not the hushed world of diplomacy that comes to mind, but rather that of fierce battles. From the Ministry of Justice to the city hall of the 7th arrondissement of Paris and to Culture, the former protégé of Nicolas Sarkozy has always known how to make people talk about her, with her acerbic repartee and overflowing ambition.
As for Manuel Valls, many see him as a politician in search of redemption, struggling to shake off his image as a “loser”. His ambitions for this position are hampered by a series of electoral failures, both in Spain and in France, and even elsewhere, which makes his candidacy difficult to believe.
Today, Rachida Dati is about to make a strong comeback, potentially propelled to the head of the Quai d’Orsay under Michel Barnier’s government. Yes, the woman who once made television sets tremble with her scathing statements could become the new head of French diplomacy. And, if some Gauls are gnashing their teeth, we are obliged to say that they are not wrong: they have simply gone mad.
Revenge of an outsider
Rachida Dati’s career is worthy of a Zola novel – if not a Tarantino film. The daughter of Algerian and Moroccan immigrants, she managed to rise, through sheer force of will, from Cinderella of working-class neighborhoods to a regal tigress. In 2007, she broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first Minister of Justice of Maghrebi origin, imposing some of the most severe reforms in the modern history of French criminal law. And today? She is on the verge of making a place for herself among the greats of diplomacy.
Let’s not forget her role in the Attal government as Minister of Culture, a position in which, let’s say, she did not shine by her self-effacement. This improbable position had surprised everyone, starting with herself, but the former mayor of the 7th arrondissement knew how to put her stamp on it, surfing on a mixture of provocation and pragmatism.
From revolt to recognition
Brigitte Macron, a big fan of Rachida and an unwavering supporter, knew how to plead in her favor, and now her name is whispered in every corner of the corridor to take up the torch at the Quai d’Orsay. A political trajectory that lacks neither panache nor irony.
Let it be said: Dati has never done things by halves. In full rise, she has always known how to show herself to be more republican than the Republicans themselves. She is the figurehead of this generation from immigration, but paradoxically, she does not hesitate to denounce the excesses of communitarianism.
She knew how to play on her identity, mastering it as a weapon of mass communication while remaining faithful to the Republic – even if it meant taking divisive positions. “Look at them, they would kill their father and mother for a job!” she said one evening when speaking of her political rivals. One thing is certain: her enemies, just like her supporters, never forget her.
Barnier, Macron and Dati: an explosive alliance?
But then, what is it that makes Michel Barnier want to choose her? It is common knowledge that Gabriel Attal dreams of becoming mayor of Paris. And, by offering her a key position in the Barnier government, he surely hopes that she will give up this ambition. Once placed at the Quai d’Orsay, she would no longer have any excuses to come back to play on the municipal turf.
It is finely played, certainly, but Dati is not the type to let go of the matter so easily. She is this drop of water sliding on an oilcloth, unpredictable and elusive and, Barnier, just like Attal, knows that her loyalty could melt at the first ray of sunshine.
Rachida Dati, the unexpected diplomat
If Rachida Dati’s career is marked by brilliant moves, clever maneuvers and political pirouettes worthy of the greatest acrobats, her possible arrival at the head of French diplomacy is anything but insignificant.
After all, she knows better than anyone how to navigate the murky waters of power. Perhaps she is the mischievous genius who always gets her way, like Ulysses escaping the Cyclops, using cunning and intelligence to land on his feet. With her, the Quai d’Orsay would never be the same again. Let her foreign colleagues prepare themselves for exchanges as piquant as they are delicious!
