In the popular district of Prés Saint-Jean, near Chalon-sur-Saône, in Burgundy, the link is no longer quite the same as in 2007, when Rachida Dati was appointed Minister of Justice by Nicolas Sarkozy. 17 years have passed and the local kid has been living in Paris for a long time. However, this appointment, Thursday, to the Ministry of Culture, within the government of Gabriel Attal, provides a feeling of pride to the inhabitants.
“We are happy for her”
“We are proud that she is in the ministry! She has done well. For me, it’s great,” says a local resident proudly. “We are happy for her. For me, she is an example. Someone who has succeeded in life, who goes far in studies and all that. I admire,” adds another.
For Maryam Nour, a 17-year-old high school student, Rachida Dati is even a model. “She’s a North African woman from disadvantaged neighborhoods and it’s very complicated, but she succeeded. It proves to us that even if we come from a working-class neighborhood, in a small town in Burgundy and in the countryside, we can to get out of it and go very far,” she explains.
Others have doubts about his nomination for culture
The fact remains that even in his neighborhood, some have doubts about this nomination for culture. “I would have seen him at the Ministry of Justice again. It’s a position that suited him very well. The culture is good, but I would have seen him elsewhere despite everything”, expresses, with questions, Véronique. In the neighborhood, there is hope that one of Rachida Dati’s first trips, as new Minister of Culture, will be to her hometown of Chalon-sur-Saône.