All cabinet members. All running in municipal elections.
The justice minister wants to be a mayor. So does the finance minister. And the culture minister. And the government spokesman.
The races for France’s municipal elections in March have not even started, but nearly two-thirds of the 33 members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet have already transformed themselves into part-time politicians, declaring that they deserve to be the next mayors and deputy mayors of France.
In a peculiarly French practice called “accumulation of mandates,” certain government officials are allowed to hold more than one elected office. The minister-mayor phenomenon largely was eliminated as unseemly during the era of President Jacques Chirac (who had served simultaneously as prime minister and mayor of Paris). But it has been proudly revived by Sarkozy as a way to expand his government’s influence.
It is also a way to keep power at the top. “You have to understand that France is still a sort of elected monarchy…”
Uh, OK.
We have some politicians who should get into another career altogether. One involving honesty.
French politicians are better looking than American ones…
Is scary spice a cabnit minister?
oh, du Gaulle is rolling over in his grave, not because it is relevant to the story, but he heard about the history channel documentary about him.
Our government officials (Congress included) already have a 2nd job … taking bribes.
Nice. The taxpayers pay for a full time manager and a full time minister. Yet they get less than half of either.