topics
tools
editor's choice

Learning with the International Primary Curriculum

Remote training for expatriates

Should our kids go native too?

Pre-school activities in Belgium

How expats are learning the local lingo

Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2270.63 -0.42
DAX 6788.8 0.59
IBEX 30 8902.1 0.60
CAC 40 3424.71 0.43
FTSE 100 5895.47 0.33
AEX 325.12 -0.06
DJIA 12890.46 0.05
Nasdaq 2927.23 0.39
FTSE MIB 16653.83 -0.09
TSX Composite 12497.94 -0.18
ASX 4322.6 -0.79
Hang seng 20775.51 -1.12
Straits Times 2962.62 -0.62
ISEQ 20 503.71 0.33
You are here: Home Family & Kids Kids Maman-minister: France debates politics and motherhood

Kids

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


15/01/2009Maman-minister: France debates politics and motherhood

The super-short maternity leave of Justice Minister Rachida Dati is stirring debate in France over how to juggle a high-powered political career with the demands of motherhood.

PARIS - The 43-year-old minister has been a hot topic of discussion since she returned to work last week only five days after the caesarian birth of her daughter Zohra.

After stepping out of a Paris maternity clinic, Dati arrived smiling and spruced up for a cabinet meeting at the Elysee presidential palace.

While women's groups say Dati set a bad example, many of her fellow female politicians admit they too would have opted for a quick return to work: politics, they say, requires 100-percent commitment.

"Being back on the job only five days after a caesarian is too soon, there's no doubt about that," commented former presidential candidate Segolene Royal, who in 1992 became France's first pregnant minister.

"But this exceptional duty requires exceptional behaviour," she said.

A prominent Socialist, Royal took a swipe at President Nicolas Sarkozy for choosing to announce a major justice reform on the day Dati left the maternity clinic and said he was trying to steal her thunder.

"I understand that Rachida Dati felt that she had to be at the president's side" when he announced justice reforms, said Royal. She also revealed that she sought to hide her pregnancy when she was environment minister.

France prides itself for progressive social policies that give women 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, but these laws do not apply to ministers and elected officials.


Higher education minister Valerie Pecresse, a mother of three, won broad approval from the left and right when she suggested extending those legal provisions to women in politics.

"In the current system, Rachida Dati did not have choice and I think I would have done the same thing," said Pecresse, who called for new legislation to give mayors, deputies and ministers the right to the same maternity leave.

But family affairs minister Nadine Morano countered that there was no need for new legislation and that a minister could ask the president to grant her maternity leave by decree.

"There is no need to be a slave to politics," commented Roger Karoutchi, a senior member of the governing UMP party. But he added that 16 weeks of maternity leave "is nevertheless a very, very long time."

Amid the brouhaha, some voices have argued that Dati's choices as a new mother are nobody's business but her own.

"Leave Rachida alone!" fired former first lady Bernadette Chirac. "She just had a beautiful baby and this is her private life."

The new leader of the Workers' Struggle party, Nathalie Arthaud, said the debate over Dati's maternity leave was bourgeois chatter, telling politicians to focus instead on the plight of "cashiers, office staff and workers."

Dati shot to prominence in 2007, when she became the first politician of north African origin named to a senior French government post.

A single mum, Dati has kept the father's identity under wraps, telling reporters she had "a complicated private life" and sparking an intense guessing game in the French press.

Recently, Spain's defence minister Carme Chacon took a six-week leave after giving birth to her first child, a boy named Miquel.

By Sabine Wibaux

AFP/ Expatica


1 reaction to this article

veryangrymum posted: 2009-01-21 11:22:51

If career and power are higher priority than the life of a baby, then give her for adoption to someone who would love and cherish her and make her the priority she deserves to be. Rachida Dati is the most vulgar example of disgrace to the name of "Mother". She has thrown her daughter aside like a dirty diaper in favour of her paycheque and social life.

Add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating


1 reaction to this article

veryangrymum posted: 2009-01-21 11:22:51

If career and power are higher priority than the life of a baby, then give her for adoption to someone who would love and cherish her and make her the priority she deserves to be. Rachida Dati is the most vulgar example of disgrace to the name of "Mother". She has thrown her daughter aside like a dirty diaper in favour of her paycheque and social life.

Add a comment
Family & Kids essentials
Family & Kids expert Q&A
ask your question
Family & Kids A-Z listings
find the business you need
Discussion Forums

English in Belgium

ascent of language in belgium

Family in Belgium

Question about summer program/camp in Belgium

Healthcare in Belgium

How to find a good Physio and optometrist?

Jobs in Belgium

IFAs / FSIs / Country Managers / Confidential Introducers

Housing in Belgium

Flatmate Wanted as from mid February – SPACIOUS DUPLEX/PENTHOUSE

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Looking for work in Belgium

Looking for work in Belgium

This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.

Practical, easy-to-use, free and... in English

Practical, easy-to-use, free and... in English

Belgium’s first alternative directory assistance services - available through the shortcode 14-14 - can now be accessed on the internet.

Finding a rental home in Belgium

Finding a rental home in Belgium

Moving to Belgium presents a host of challenges to expats, not least of all finding the right home.

Learning to cope with life abroad

Learning to cope with life abroad

The psychological effects of global mobility can be physically painful.