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One of the most interesting figures in French politics today is Fadela Amara; see here for a translation of an earlier interview with this 43-year-old who grew up in a large working-class family of Algerian origin in Clermont-Ferrand and in 2003 helped found Ni Putes Ni Soumises ('Neither Whores Nor Registered Prostitutes'), a feminist organization that fights violence against women, in 2003. -- Nicolas Sarkozy's invitation in May 2007 to this well-known figure, solidly anchored in left politics, to join his government as secrétaire d'État for urban policy in the Fillon II government was one of his most startling early decisions. -- On Oct. 9 she ruffled feathers when in a radio interview she attacked a government proposal to use DNA tests to verify family relationships in immigration cases as “disgusting.”[1] -- By Thursday, with some helpful mediation by Prime Minister François Fillon, the contretemps seemed to be winding down.[2] -- Interviews with members of neighborhood associations by Le Point showed that the jury is still out on Fadela Amara’s surprising governmental role.[3] ...
1. [Translated from Le Figaro (Paris)] DNA: FADELA AMARA ACCUSED OF “INSULTS” BY THE UMP
By Samuel Potier ** The secretary of state for urban policy called “instrumentalizing immigration” with DNA tests “disgusting”; Socialists pushing for her resignation ** Le Figaro (Paris)
October 9, 2007 Has Fadela Amara signed her governmental exit pass? Repeating over and over that she will remain “a free woman,” one of the symbols of Nicolas Sarkozy’s symbols of “openness” showed she meant what she said Tuesday morning when on France Inter she said “instrumentalizing immigration” with DNA tests was “disgusting.” The attack against her own government and its majority brought a sharp reaction from the UMP’s general secretary, Patrick Devedjian: “It’s not all right to insult the députés of the majority, that is, those who are supporting the government,” he said at the end of a UMP group meeting at the Assemblée nationale. Asked whether she should resign from the government, he simply answered: “I’m not saying that, I’m saying that it’s not all right” to make such statements. “I am able to say what I have to say, and, quite frankly, the day when that becomes really unbearable, the day when that’s too tough, well, I’ll leave!” Fadela Amara warned in the past, however. “WHAT’S SHE DOING IN THE GOVERNMENT?” Among the députés, the irritated reactions continues all morning. “She’s part of the government so there’s a minimum of solidarity, at least in the terms one uses, concerning what is done by the parliament,” said Jean Leonetti, vice-president of the UMP group, while Jean-François Copé called for “mutual respect” and “keeping cool in debate.” “The openness ministers still have a duty to respect parliament. Let us be respectful of one another,” insisted Bernard Deflesselles, also a vice-president of the group, however. For his part, the Villepinist député François Goulard, opposed to the DNA amendment, wondered on France Inter what Fadela Amara “is doing inside the government.” “If you think that some members of the government are behaving disgustingly, there’s only one conclusion: you leave it.” Departure seems logical to André Vallini, the Parti Socialiste group’s spokesperson at the Assemblée nationale, according to whom the secretary of state should “follow logic to the end and resign” if the measure is not withdrawn. Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Web page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu 2. FADELA AMARA SAYS SHE’S “ASTONISHED BY THE PROPORTIONS” THE POLEMIC HAS ASSUMED Agence France-Presse
October 11, 2007 http://www.lemonde.fr/web/depeches/0,14-0,39-32775648@7-40,0.html The secretary of state for urban policy, Fadela Amara, said Thursday she was “a bit astonished by the proportions” assumed by the polemic set off by her remarks on immigration policy that was being instrumentalized, according to her, in a “disgusting” way. “What hurt me was that for even an instant I could be thought to be insulting individuals or the function of député,” she said as she left a cabinet meeting. Mme Amara, who was received Wednesday by [Prime Minister] François Fillon, said she did not regret her “logical” stance. The prime minister, she reported, “assured me I had both his full confidence and the possibility of being able to express a disagreement, without there being any problem.” The secretary general of the UMP, Patrick Devedjian, was “nice enough to call me yesterday to say to me that we had to learn to know one another,” she revealed, adding: “It’s obvious that there are sometimes some differences between the territories where the two of us live.” [NOTE: The average GDP in the Hauts-de-Seine department, just west of Paris, where more than 6,000 companies have their headquarters and many television networks have their studios, is three times the national average; it is the third most wealthy statistical area in the European Union, after Paris and Inner London. Hauts-de-Seine was also for many years the political base of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Patrick Devedjian’s predecessor as president of the Conseil général of the department. --M.K.J.] M. Devedjian, who is president of the Conseil général of the Hauts-de-Seine department, found Fadela Amara’s remarks “insulting” for the députés in the majority. After being received at Matignon [the prime minster’s residence], he, too, toned things down. Government spokesperson Laurent Wauquiez, for his part, said that President Nicolas Sarkozy did not refer to the polemic during the cabinet meeting. “He didn’t bring up the polemic again . . . unless it was by saying that you are members of the government, you’re at the controls, work together and collectively on the discussions that are France’s real discussions,” said Mr. Wauquiez. “That was in no way a signal addressed to anyone around the table, it was just a way of saying in public discussion that there are real discussions that are discussions of fundamentals, and there are little buzzes that can arise here and there on this or that subject,” he added. Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Web page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu 3. Political news FADELA AMARA AS SEEN BY NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS
By Cyriel Martin Le Point
October 12, 2007 http://www.lepoint.fr/content/direct_qg/article.html?id=205177 The [media] microcosm was all abuzz about Fadela Amara’s remarks about DNA tests*, but neighborhood associations prefer to focus on her “banlieue” plan that will be unveiled in November. So Ni Putes Ni Soumises, her former group, refuses to get involved in the polemic and would rather talk about her activity inside the government. “She knows the territory, she’s where she should be,” they say. Nevertheless, members of the group would rather not fool themselves. “Youth is wating for action.” The same note was struck at Ville et Banlieue, a group of mayors of large French towns. “The hope is still there, but it’s been disappointed so often . . .,” say those around Pierre Bourguignon, president of the group and Socialist Party deputy from Seine-Maritime [department]. In the line of fire is the “anti-glandouille” [‘anti-hanging-around-doing-nothing’] plan, promised by Fadela Amara for mid-November, and about which lobbying is ongoing. There’s just one fear: “That it’ll be just one more banlieue plan.” Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racisme, thinks so too: he says he “expects nothing in particular” from the policymaking in which Fadela Amara is engaged. Over at Quartier sans cible, a Bordeaux group, there is doubt about the ability of politicians to move the “banlieue” dossier forward. “Fadela might have been more effective had she stayed with her group,” Pascal Dubernet, president of the association, speculated, saying he is “disappointed” by her participation in the government. What’s more, according to him, young people do not always approve of the Boutin-Amara duo. “Maybe they’ll be able to do good work together?” he said hopefully. “Let’s wait and see.” * “I’m sick and tired of them instrumentalizing immigration every time, for very specific reasons. I think it’s disgusting!” Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Web page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu
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