Ségolène Royal
Marie
Ségolène Royal (born
September 22,
1953 in
Dakar,
Sénégal) is a
French politician, top presidential candidate according to most French opinion polls,[
1] and a prominent member of the
Socialist Party.
A graduate of the
ENA and
Sciences Po, she was a judge (
conseiller) of an
administrative court before holding elected office [
2]. She is a
député for the
Deux-Sèvres département, and was minister both under
Pierre Bérégovoy from 1992 to 1993 and
Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2002. On
28 March 2004, she was elected (with more than 55%) president of the region
Poitou-Charentes, notably defeating Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin's protégé, Elizabeth Morin, in his home region.
Her partner since the late 1970's is
French Socialist Party leader
François Hollande, with whom she has four children. While not married, they are bound by the PACS (
pacte civil de solidarité), which provides for a civil union between two adults, regardless of gender. In the past, she has mounted campaigns against the exposure of children to
violent television shows, including cartoons (see her 1989 book, listed below,
Le Ras-le-bol des bébés zappeurs, roughly translated as "The Dissatisfaction of the Channel-Flipping Generation").
On September 22, 2005,
Paris Match published an interview in which she declared that she was considering running for the
presidency in 2007 [
3]. After the government was forced into a humiliating climb-down in the face of youth riots against the
CPE (first employment contract) laws, she was tipped as the lead contender in what is dubbed the Sarko-Sego race against
Nicolas Sarkozy.
On
April 7,
2006, Royal launched an internet-led electoral campaign at (), publishing the first of ten chapters of her political
manifesto. Though not yet a presidential candidate, the campaign â€" which allows contributions by visitors in order to help "complete" the book â€" is designed to help Royal produce a document which will be published in September 2006, two months before the Socialist Party elects its presidential candidate.
Her status as a presidential candidate is uncertain until November 2006, when the Socialist Party and
Lionel Jospin will announce whether he is a candidate for the presidency. French politics could allow for an informal Jospinâ€"Royal ticket among other possibilities. Royal could become the second female
Prime Minister of the French Republic â€" the first woman to hold this office was
Édith Cresson, appointed by
François Mitterrand in 1991. However, the ticket would have to win: Jospin's last attempt came short of the nationalist right-wing candidate
Jean-Marie Le Pen. It was for this embarrassing loss that Jospin had been in virtual political exile for years and only recently has re-emerged from obscurity. Another obstacle would be party leader
François Hollande, who is also her civil partner (near-husband), who may have plans of his own, but with half a year to go, news events like the
"Affaire Clearstream" could shake things up again.
She has made a point of speaking up on subjects the French Left usually feels uncomfortable with, most notably
juvenile delinquents, causing a stir within her own party and attacking
Nicolas Sarkozy on his own turf. She also hasn't hesitated to criticize some side effects of the 35-hour working week that
Lionel Jospin wrote into law when he was Prime Minister.
Local politics
* Recognition of chabichou cheese under
Appellations d'Origine Contrôlée laws [
4];
* Restoration of the
Poitevin Marshes [
5];
* Environmental measures including the planting of 10,000 trees in the Poitevin Marshes[
6];
* Promotion of local agriculture, such as the
parthenaise and
maraîchine cow breeds [
7][
8];
National politics
Environment
* Law on the treatment and recycling of refuse (La loi sur le traitement et le recyclage des déchets) [
9];
* Law to preserve the countryside (La loi sur la reconquête des paysages), followed by efforts to provide proper labelling for the products of 100 local areas (opération «Sauvons nos paysages, savourons leurs produits» -- "Save our countrysides, savor their products") [
10];
* Law against noise pollution (La loi de lutte contre le bruit) [
11].
Education
* Re-launch of the Priority Education Zones ( ZEP /
zone d'éducation prioritaire);
* Creation of a government student lunch program;
* Implementation of language instruction as a priority in primary schools;
* Creation of a national home-tutoring program, Heures de Soutien Scolaire [
12];
* Creation of programs for parental involvement in schools, "la Semaine des parents à l'école", and national campaigns for the elections of parent-representatives;
* Creation of local education and citizenship education contracts;
* Launch of "Initiatives citoyennes" for teaching children how to live together;
* Defense of children's rights and campaign against violence in the schools (Loi de juin 1998 relative à la prévention et à la répression des infractions sexuelles ainsi qu'à la protection des mineurs);
* Campaign against "hazing" of children (Loi de juin 1998 contre le
bizutage);
* Campaign against violence and racketeering, implementation of an "SOS Violence" telephone number;
* Implemented mandatory civics instruction in secondary schools.
Family and social affairs
* Law on parental rights and obligations (loi sur l'autorité parentale) ;
* Reform of women's rights and anonymous childbirth(l'accouchement sous X) [
13] ;
* Creation of Paternity Leave;
* Creation of 40,000 new openings in French nursery schools;
* Social housing reform [
14];
* Parental time-off provisions and financial support for child illness care [
15];
* Special Education support (parents d'enfants handicapés) ;
* Education support for school returnees (Allocation de rentrée scolaire) ;
* Law against the prostitution of minors (Loi contre la prostitution des mineurs) providing penal measures for clients;
* Law against pedophile pornography;
* Creation of the association "Childhood and the Media" ("Enfance et média"), against violence in the media;
* Creation of the "Plan Handiscole" for the education of handicapped children and adolescents, and their integration into life at school;
* Programs for transportation, mass and individual;
* Creation of the program "Tourism & The Handicapped" ("Tourisme et handicap") [
16].
=LGBT Issues
=Ségolène Royal is one of the few leading members of the Socialist Party, along with Lionel Jospin, who has shown at times a conservative attitude towards same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. However:
* In 2000, Mme Royal, as the then Minister of the Family and Children spoke out against homophobic bullying in schools, saying, "School must be a place a place of tolerance, of welcome. Too many young people face teasing, social exclusion because of their sexual orientation… Some consider drugs, suicide attempts. It is time to stand up to this hostility shown towards homosexuality." She later introduced an educational pack in high schools and colleges called "The Happiness of Loving", designed particularly for teachers and nurses. It comprises a video, educational information and printed copies for students which address the different issues of homosexuality and homophobia. It includes information on the Civil Partnership scheme, the situation of homosexuals and the discrimination which they face abroad. Mme Royal commented further on the issue later that year, "It is necessary, in my opinion, to step up against homophobia, to recognise and respect each other, with our differences".
* A law passed in February 2002, which was defended by Mme Royal as part of the Jospin government, gave legal recognition, for the first time, to families with gay parents, part of the law's object. Article 7 of the law amended Article 337 of the Civil Code in allowing the parents to "[delegate] all or part of the exercise of their parental authority to a third person, member of the family [or] trustworthy near relation,". Article 337-1, added by the law, ensures that "delegation may provide, for the needs of education of a child, that the father and mother, or one of them, shall share all or part of the exercise of parental authority with the third person delegatee."
* In a June 2006 interview with LGBT publication
Têtu, Royal said "opening up marriage to same-sex couples is needed in the name of equality, visibility and respect" and said that if her party formed the next government, she would introduce a bill to legalize
same-sex marriage and adoption.[
17]
Ministerial career
* April 3, 1992 - March 29, 1993, Minister of the Environment
* June 4, 1997 - March 27, 2000, Vice-Minister for Education (ministre déléguée à l'Enseignement scolaire auprès du ministre de l'Éducation Nationale)
* March 27, 2000 - March 27, 2001, Vice-Minister for Family and Childhood (ministre déléguée à la Famille et à l'Enfance auprès de la ministre de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité)
* March 28, 2001 - May 5, 2002, Vice-Minister for Family and Childhood and Handicapped Persons (ministre déléguée à la Famille, à l'Enfance et aux Personnes handicapées auprès de la ministre de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité).
Elective office
* June 13, 1988 - May 2, 1992, deputy for Deux-Sèvres
* April 2, 1993 - April 21, 1997, deputy for Deux-Sèvres
* June 1, 1997 - July 4, 1997, deputy for Deux-Sèvres
* since June 2002, deputy for Deux-Sèvres
Articles: latest 5 by or about S. Royal, most recent first --
* "A Royal ruffle in french politics : Popular socialist could become country's first female president", by Elizabeth Bryant, Chronicle Foreign Service,
The San Francisco Chronicle, Friday June 9 2006, page A-15. "Paris 11 points higher than the rating of Sarkozy, the popular head of the governing Union for a Popular Movement party, who has made his presidential ambitions clear..." [
18].
* "France : The irresistible rise of Ségolène Royal : A flexible and popular candidate meets an immovable and less popular party", in
The Economist, June 8th 2006 â€" "...party grandees are putting up stiff resistance to the candidate who feels fresh, looks good and has conquered public opinion: Ségolène Royal. When Ms Royal first hinted at her presidential ambitions nine months ago in Paris-Match, Socialist old-timers responded with scorn. 'Who will look after the children?' sneered Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister, of this mother of four. Others pointed to her lack of heavyweight experience â€" she has served only in 'soft' ministries such as education and the family. But the more she was dismissed, the more the public took to her. In a poll for
Libération this week, 68% of Socialist voters said they wanted her as their presidential candidate, against 27% for the next choice, Dominique Strauss-Kahn... fears about security are feeding the far right. In one poll, a staggering 31% of voters say they want the National Front's Jean-Marie Le Pen to stand for the presidency... It would be foolish to bet on Ms Royal now â€" but just as foolish to write her off." [
19]
*"Sarko v Ségo and a battle royale", By Simon Heffer,
news.telegraph, May 8 2006: "...Eleven months is a long time in politics, but it looks as if the UMP's closest rival, the Partie Socialiste, will field the president of the regional government of Poitou-Charentes, the glamorous single mother of four, Ségolène Royal, as its candidate..." -- [
20]
*"France looks to Sarko-Sego race", by Caroline Wyatt,
BBC News, Paris, Tuesday, 11 April 2006: "which potential presidential candidate has profited the most from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's discomfiture?... On the right there is his cabinet colleague, the sharp, ambitious Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also leader of the governing centre-right UMP party. And on the left, MP Segolene Royal, the Socialist in stilettos, a regional leader who is hotly tipped as France's first real potential Madame la Présidente, overtaking her piqued male colleagues from nowhere. The idea of a Sarko-Sego battle has gripped the nation's imagination, with Madame Royal now the cover-woman of the moment, her elegant features smiling from the front pages of four of the country's leading news magazines this week..." -- [
21]
*"French elections : Is this the face of France's first Madame la Présidente? : Despite her country's macho politics, Ségolène Royal is increasingly seen as a future leader", by Kim Willsher in Paris The Guardian. [
22]
Books: author S. Royal unless shown otherwise --
Le Printemps des grands-parents : la nouvelle alliance des âges (Paris : Cogite-R. Laffont, 1987) ISBN 2-221-05314-1, (Paris : France Loisirs, 1988) ISBN 2-7242-3948-2, (Paris : Presses pocket, 1989) ISBN 2-266-02730-1.
Le Ras-le-bol des bébés zappeurs (Paris : R. Laffont, 1989) ISBN 2-221-05826-7, cover "Télé-massacre, l'overdose?", subjects): Télévision et enfants, Violence -- A la télévision.
Pays, paysans, paysages (Paris : R. Laffont, 1993) ISBN 2-221-07046-1, subject(s): Environnement France ; Politique de l'environnement France.
*France. Ministère de l'environnement (1991-1997)
Ségolène Royal, une année d'actions pour la planète : avril 1992 - mars 1993 (Paris : Ministère de l'environnement, ca 1993), subject(s): Politique de l'environnement -- France.
*France. Assemblée nationale (1958-) Commission des affaires étrangères ''Rapport d'information sur les suites de la Conférence de Rio / présenté par M. Roland Nungesser et Mme Ségolène Royal (Paris : Assemblée nationale, 1994) ISBN 2-11-087788-X, subject(s): Développement durable ; Conférence des Nations unies sur l'environnement et le développement.
La vérité d'une femme (Paris : Stock, 1996) ISBN 2-234-04648-3, subject(s): Pratiques politiques 1970-.
*Laguerre, Christian
École, informatique et nouveaux comportements préf. de Ségolène Royal (Paris ; Montréal (Québec) : Éd. l'Harmattan, 1999) ISBN 2-7384-7453-5, subject(s): Informatique -- Aspect social ; Éducation et informatique ; Ordinateurs et enfants.
*Sassier, Monique
Construire la médiation familiale : arguments et propositions preface by Ségolène Royal (Paris : Dunod, 2001) ISBN 2-10-005993-9.
*Amar, Cécile and Hassoux, Didier
Ségolène et François ([Paris] : Privé, impr. 2005) ISBN 2-35076-002-2, subject(s): Royal, Ségolène (1953-) Biographies.
*Bernard, Daniel
Madame Royal ([Paris] : Jacob-Duvernet, impr. 2005) ISBN 2-84724-091-8, subject(s): Royal, Ségolène (1953-) Politique et gouvernement -- 1958-.
Désir d'avenir ([Paris] : Flammarion, [forthcoming, March 2006]) ISBN 2080688057.
* Malouines-Me
La Madone et le Culbuto - Ou l'Inlassable Ambition de Ségolène Royal et François Hollande ([Paris] : Fayard, [forthcoming, April 5 2006]), series: LITT.GENE, ISBN 2213623546.
*
Ségolène Royal's official page at the French National Assembly*
Ségolène Royal's personal site*
Blog pushing for Ségolène Royal's 2007 candidacy*
Segolene Royal Blog
*
France5, Jan 15 2006*
101 raisons de voter Ségolène, support Blog commenting on the presidential race
