Name that French politician

A quick test (no cheating) for those of you who follow French politics and think you (might) know a thing or two.

Try to name some of the faceless wonders and barely memorable people who hold, or have held, a post in government under the current president, François Hollande.

It’s just a bit of “fun” after watching BFM TV presenter Jean-Jacques Bourdin conducting his daily grilling of a French politician. On Wednesday morning it was the minister of justice.

1. And that’s your first question. Who was in the “hot seat”? In other words, who is France’s minister of justice? (clue - it’s no longer Christiane Taubira - and hasn’t been since the beginning of 2016)


2. Who is Juliette Méadel (in other words, what’s her job)? And who is her immediate boss. (clue - she has had her current job since February 2015 indirectly succeeding Nicole Guedj who held the post for a year in 2004-2005)

Juliette Méadel (screenshot Europe 1, September 2016)

3. Who did Matthias Fekl (who?) replace as minister of state for foreign trade, the promotion of tourism and French nationals abroad? (clue - Fekl’s - who? - predecessor spent just one week in the job and is probably best known for his inability to pay bills/rent/taxes)

Matthias Fell (screenshot BFM TV)

4. Harlem Désir. Apart from surely having the coolest of names, what’s his government job (and does he actually do anything apart from draw a nice, fat salary - here’s a piece outlining some of the reactions when he was appointed to his current post in April 2014)

Harlem Désir (screenshot Public Sénat interview, January 2015)

5. Name the minister of state for higher education (clue - if it helps - he replaced Geneviève Fioraso in March 2015).

6. Can you name either of the junior ministers who work under Marisol Touraine, the minister of social affairs and health? (clue - their job titles are, respectively minister of state for disabled people and the fight against exclusion and minister of state for elderly people and adult care. And they’re both women).

7. Who replaced Sylvia Pinel in February 2016 when she left the government to take on more responsibility at a regional level? (clue - her job was split into one holding the housing and sustainable homes portfolio and another one of town and country planning, rural affairs and local government)

8. Three-part question this time.

How many ministers of sport have their been during François Hollande’s stint as president?

Who currently holds the job?

And does he use the same hairdresser as the president (they both seem to go for the badly dyed look)

9. A nice easy one…name the minister of culture and communication (clue - she’s a close friend of Julie Gayet but denies that had anything to do with her getting the job)

10. Finally, when there’s a full cabinet meeting, how many ministers in total are sitting around the table?

Check out the answers below. If you managed to name all the ministers then give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back, in the knowledge that you’re probably better informed than many political hacks in France.

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Answers

1 - the minister of justice is Jean-Jacques Urvoas

2 - Juliette Méadal is minister of state for victim assistance, a post she has held since February 2016. She reports directly to the prime minister, Manuel Valls.

3 - Matthias Fekl replaced Thomas Thévenoud as minister of state for foreign trade and the promotion of tourism in September 2014. Thévenoud was sacked after just one week in the job when it was revealed in Le Canard Enchainé that he suffered from "administrative phobia" and had “forgotten” to pay his rent for three months. Says a fair bit about Hollande’s judgement.

4 - Harlem Désir (gotta love the name) is minister of state for European affairs which, given that he had an appalling attendance record as a member of the European parliament, pretty much makes a mockery of his appointment.

5 - Thierry Mandon is the minister of state for higher education and research - a post the 58-year-old has held since June 2015.

6 - The two women who report directly to Marisol Touraine are Ségolène Neuville (minister of state for disabled people and the fight against exclusion) and Pascale Boistard (minister of state for elderly people and adult care).
 
7. When Sylvia Pinel resigned from the government in February 2016, her job was split in two. Emmanuelle Cosse took over as minister of housing and sustainable homes while Jean-Michel Baylet became minister of town and country planning, rural affairs and local government.

8 - During Hollande’s presidency there have been three different ministers of sport.

Valérie Fourneyron, May 2012 - March 2014
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem April - August 2014
Patrick Kanner - incumbent minister who, yes, has hair completely the wrong shade of very dark brown for a 59-year-old.

9 - In the February 2016 reshuffle Audrey Azoulay replace Fleur Pellerin as minister of culture. The appointment raised more than a few eyebrows, not only for the way cack-handed way in which the talented Pellerin was “thanked for her time” but also the fact that she way replaced by a woman close to Hollande’s not-so-secret girlfriend, Julie Gayet, and a former advisor to the president.

10

The current government (including prime minister Manuel Valls) numbers 38.

François Hollande named “Statesman of the year”

Um

Say what?

That’s surely the only way to react to the news that the French president, François Hollande, has been honoured as International Statesman of the Year.

The prize, which is awarded by the New York-based interfaith Appeal of Conscience foundation recognises “individuals who support peace, prosperity, liberty and promote tolerance, human dignity and human rights, both in their own countries and internationally through cooperation with other leaders”.

François Hollande (screenshot from Le Monde/Reuters video of acceptance speech)

Right, that’s the news angle, and maybe the international community knows something the French don’t. But does Hollande really merit the award?

After all poll after (endless) poll in this country only emphasises Hollande’s unpopularity with the electorate at home and the frustration there has been with his seemingly trademark “waffling” approach to governing.

As Hollande’s five years near their end, what have been the highlights of his term in office?

In no particular order:

Julie Gayet and the scooter.
The ceremonious (and acrimonious) dumping of not-quite first lady Valérie Trierweiler
Ace government appointments such as Jérôme Cahuzac (the minister of economy, charged with fighting tax fraud who…well, you can probably guess the rest) and Thomas Thévenoud (the trade minister who “forgot” to pay his tax bill…for three years)
Electorally courting the Greens, including them in government and then seeing the “principled” Cécile Duflot flounce out of office.
Facing the wrath of so-called Frondeurs of his own party, abandoning Socialist party principles but refusing to endorse completely those of Social democracy.
Being (and this takes some doing) abandoned by government ministers on the left of his party - Arnaud Montebourg, Benoît Hamon and Aurélie Filippetti and those on the right - Emmanuel Macron (all right, so Manuel Valls has stuck the course, but most political commentators would argue that he has his own agenda).
Telling the French endlessly that unemployment would drop and staking his future on it.
Making administration easier (huh?), reducing the number of regions (at what price?), shifting a dollop of the state’s tax burden to those very same regions.
Oh yes - same sex marriage.

On the whole, a pretty grim and disappointing track record - domestically speaking.

So, to abroad - foreign policy; an area in which every French president stamps his authority.

Just a sampling.

French intervention in Mali and Syria, the battle against Daesch, the handling of refugees in Europe…the list could go on…have, and let’s be brutally honest about it, hardly been resounding triumphs in French foreign policy and ergo for Hollande.

And that term “Statesmanship”.

Take a look around the Net and you’ll come up with several key elements (and, as in all matters of this nature, there is no one clear definition, so the meaning of the term is open to some degree of interpretation) that are embodied in being a statesman.

“Having a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision. And an ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision.”

Hollande? Really?

Or how about this?

"A person who is skilled in the management of public or national affairs." or, in determining the difference between a politician and a statesman, “A politician works with details. A statesman works with ideas.”

Ditto.

And this?

“A person who is experienced in the art of government or versed in the administration of government affairs” and “A person who exhibits great wisdom and ability in directing the affairs of a government or in dealing with important public issues.”

Double ditto.

Now, while Hollande might score (just) on some of these points, he clearly misses big time on many.

Certainly he has had to deal with the terrorist attacks in France during his time in office. And few could argue that he has led the nation’s mourning with exceptional dignity.

But that in itself cannot warrant the award of International statesman of the year.

And maybe Hollande recognised that fact in his acceptance speech on Monday, realising that the award was not for just one man, but for a nation.

“It honours France,” he said. An inspiring France which defends  liberty, democracy and human rights everywhere.”

And referring to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,  he continued, “ On that day we were all American. Today we are all French.”