The consequences of the surprise deal made between Rachida Dati and Emmanuel Macron with a view to the municipal elections are still difficult to determine. A boomerang return in sight?
The appointment of Rachida Dati to the Ministry of Culture took everyone by surprise, including in the Macronist camp. The LR mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris, fiery contender for mayor of the capital, took the risk of being disowned by her political family to make a deal with the head of state. She joined the government with the promise of being invested at the head of a union list between the right and Renaissance in the 2026 municipal elections. A surprising calculation which confuses all the scenarios.
Will Emmanuel Macron even be able to keep his promise? If the head of state is able to ensure the investiture of his party in Dati, he cannot predict anything about LR’s decision. Eric Ciotti’s party has already started a procedure to exclude the new Minister of Culture. It’s a safe bet that he will nominate his own candidate for the municipal elections against her. However, Rachida Dati could count on some support at the Paris Council to disobey and vote for her. Will it be enough?
“It is a fundamental psychological error to believe that this deal will make me keel over,” reacted Pierre-Yves Bournazel, Paris advisor to the Horizons party, an ally of the Macronists, in Le Monde. “On the contrary, it strengthens my determination to prepare an alternative to the management of Ms. Hidalgo and the political and archaic methods of Ms. Dati,” he assures. His boss Edouard Philippe assured him of his full support, recalling that “any deal in which we do not participate does not bind us”.
The presidential camp could therefore approach these municipal elections divided, just like the right. What ultimately benefits outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo? Unless her sworn enemy, in the person of Rachida Dati, takes advantage of her new position at the Ministry of Culture to block all municipal files that require her approval, such as the redevelopment plan for Concorde and the axis Eiffel Tower-Trocadéro. Enough to put a damper on the socialist’s balance sheet.
