France's newest political idol is Rachida Date, the new justice minister. She's adored by the French public. She also holds the record as the minister who has introduced the most bills in the new French government.
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![Rachida Dati [ANP photo]](../images/assets/13083177)
Immigrant background
President Nicolas Sarkozy was the one who discovered her and offer her a post. Ms Dati is the daughter of immigrants from Algeria and Morocco who had little schooling. It is the first time the child of immigrants has been appointed to such a senior position.
Dati is also considered a self-made woman. She started out as a cashier in a supermarket. However, she wanted to climb further and obtained an education, which she paid for by working after school. However, Ms Dati does not consider herself an exception. " That is how the France of today looks. It is a multifaceted society with all kinds of people. I'm just as French as anyone else."
Changing society
Ms Dati plays an important role in that she exemplifies the changing nature of French society. Until recently, French politics was the domain of older white males. Politicians looked different than most of the people they were supposed to represent. Rachida Dati is the daughter of immigrants and a woman who did not go to the elite schools most French politicians attend.
Rachida Dati has been on the job for two months. She works in a near frenzy - before one piece of legislation has been dealt with she already has started on another. She can be compared to the man who brought her on board - President Nicolas Sarkozy. Both of them have made it on their own. They are also ambitious and know exactly what they want.
More security
Ms Dati defended a bill which would impose tougher jail sentences on repeat offenders and she also wants 16-year-olds to be sentenced as adults. She wants to change the prison system and she has proposed closer cooperation between the justice ministries within the European Union. President Sarkozy won the elections by promising more security and Ms Dati sees it as her task to ensure that the promise is kept.
However, the French cabinet has seen some infighting. The head of the cabinet resigned along with three advisors. The cabinet chief is quoted as saying:
What she wants
Ms Dati has the image of someone who knows what she wants and who does not let anyone or anything get in her way. She is fully convinced of her own opinions. Several days ago a confidential report was leaked which said that French prisons would become even more overcrowded in the years to come. "That's not true," she said.
Although Ms Dati may not consider herself a role model, as a female politician and the daughter of immigrants she is under an enormous pressure to prove herself.
* RNW translation (fs)
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