A ‘First Spouse’ in France? Not Any Time Soon
from the NY Times
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 27, 2007
PARIS, April 26 — No matter who wins the presidency of France on May 6, life in the grand, presidential Élysée Palace is destined to change.
There is no future for the role of dutiful partner filled for the past dozen years by Bernadette Chirac, who as first lady has run charities, held dinners and served as a local official in the farming area of Corrèze.
Both presidential candidates are members of unconventional couples.
Ségolène Royal, the Socialist Party candidate, is not married to the father of her four children, François Hollande. But more than that, they are potential political rivals. As head of the Socialist Party, he was nearly the candidate himself, and says he will try to run in 2012 if Ms. Royal loses this time.
“Certainly, without doubt,” he said Wednesday in an interview on a train from Paris to Nantes. “It’s also a competition between us.”
He added that even if Ms. Royal won the election, he would not be joining her in Élysée Palace for her five-year term.
“I am not the one who is going to be elected,” he said. “If Ségolène Royal wins, my situation doesn’t change. It is Ségolène Royal who has a great responsibility and has to decide what is the best way of exercising it — including where she lives.”
This is not Bill-and-Hillary in 1992, when Bill Clinton told the American people they would be getting “two for the price of one,” pledging that Mrs. Clinton would be a full-time policy-making partner, and perhaps even a cabinet member, in his presidency.
“In France, you don’t need two, you need one,” Mr. Hollande said. “My role is not to be a co-candidate with Ségolène Royal. The candidate must be free and responsible. My role is to help the candidate — but as party secretary, not my private capacity.”
Cécilia Sarkozy, 49, the wife of the front-runner and conservative candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been largely absent from the campaign. Asked how she envisioned her life in 10 years, she replied, “In the United States, jogging in Central Park.”
“I don’t see myself as a first lady,” she said in an interview in a popular French TV guide. “That bores me. I am not politically correct.” go to http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/world/europe/27france.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fFrance&oref=slogin for the complete story.
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 27, 2007
PARIS, April 26 — No matter who wins the presidency of France on May 6, life in the grand, presidential Élysée Palace is destined to change.
There is no future for the role of dutiful partner filled for the past dozen years by Bernadette Chirac, who as first lady has run charities, held dinners and served as a local official in the farming area of Corrèze.
Both presidential candidates are members of unconventional couples.
Ségolène Royal, the Socialist Party candidate, is not married to the father of her four children, François Hollande. But more than that, they are potential political rivals. As head of the Socialist Party, he was nearly the candidate himself, and says he will try to run in 2012 if Ms. Royal loses this time.
“Certainly, without doubt,” he said Wednesday in an interview on a train from Paris to Nantes. “It’s also a competition between us.”
He added that even if Ms. Royal won the election, he would not be joining her in Élysée Palace for her five-year term.
“I am not the one who is going to be elected,” he said. “If Ségolène Royal wins, my situation doesn’t change. It is Ségolène Royal who has a great responsibility and has to decide what is the best way of exercising it — including where she lives.”
This is not Bill-and-Hillary in 1992, when Bill Clinton told the American people they would be getting “two for the price of one,” pledging that Mrs. Clinton would be a full-time policy-making partner, and perhaps even a cabinet member, in his presidency.
“In France, you don’t need two, you need one,” Mr. Hollande said. “My role is not to be a co-candidate with Ségolène Royal. The candidate must be free and responsible. My role is to help the candidate — but as party secretary, not my private capacity.”
Cécilia Sarkozy, 49, the wife of the front-runner and conservative candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been largely absent from the campaign. Asked how she envisioned her life in 10 years, she replied, “In the United States, jogging in Central Park.”
“I don’t see myself as a first lady,” she said in an interview in a popular French TV guide. “That bores me. I am not politically correct.” go to http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/world/europe/27france.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fFrance&oref=slogin for the complete story.
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