Dati to step down from role in June

JUSTICE Minister Rachida Dati will step down from her position in June to fight in the European elections.

The news comes just a week after the minister told Le Figaro – “non, non et non!” when asked if she might be a candidate at the European elections.

She had told the newspaper that there was no question of her leaving for the European Parliament and she had been told by President Sarkozy she would be staying in her current job this year.

Her remarks followed a story by RTL that she was rumoured to be a European election candidate.

Now the minister has backtracked by accepting second place on her party’s Ile-de-France list, behind Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.

The minister, whose rapid return to work following the birth of her daughter Zohra sparked a row over parental leave, is unpopolar among members of the justice sector where her reforms have

led to protests.

Parties put forward a list for each of eight European regions, of which Ile-de-France is one, and MEP seats are filled by proportional representation, starting with those at the top. Dati is

expected to head for an MEP role from this summer following the elections on June 4 -7.

France will have a total of 72 seats in the parliament this time and MEPs are in office for five years.

All permanent residents in France can vote in the European Parliament elections if they are EU nationals. However it was necessary to be on the electoral register by December 31 last year.