Former French justice minister Rachida Dati Former French justice minister Rachida Dati has launched a scathing attack on the country’s Prime Minister – accusing him of sexism, bigotry and arrogance. The written assault on Francois Fillon is particularly significant because Ms Dati, a 46-year-old from a North Africa immigrant background, was once held up as a shining example of ‘equality’ within President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government.
Before losing her job as justice minister in 2009, Ms Dati was not only a loyal supporter of Mr Sarkozy and his cabinet colleagues like Mr Fillon, but had even been linked romantically with him.
Now, however, she has completely turned her back on all of them, as she bids to become Paris mayor.
Attacking Fillon for pledging to run against her for the prestigious job, Ms Dati said he was making a ‘sad mistake’ and represented the ‘lone ambition’ of a discredited political elite.
In an open letter to Le Monde newspaper, Ms Dati said the government did nothing for women or ‘ethnic minorities’, who were held back at every election.
Ms Dati wants to become the MP for a wealthy constituency on Paris’s Left Bank which is currently a safe seat for the ruling UMP party.
Ms Dati is already a mayor for the area, and wants to use it as a power base to become overall mayor of Paris in 2014.
So she was infuriated to hear that Mr Fillon wants to take over the same seat when he steps down as Prime Minister.
Nadine Morano, another serving minister, said Ms Dati had already been granted a political career ‘on a golden platter’ and should stand aside to Mr Fillon.
Other rightwing politicians were even more scathing, with Paris MP Bernard Debre saying she was an ungrateful ‘spoilt brat’ who had rejected everything the party had given her.
A poll on Sunday showed Mr Fillon had 39 per cent support in the constituency, with Ms Dati on just eight per cent.
Ms Dati, who faces being kicked out of the UMP altogether, was once a rising star within a ‘rainbow’ cabinet of racially diverse ministers.