Michèle Alliot-Marie

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Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (French:

Alliot-Marie is a law and political science scholar. Her companion is Patrick Ollier, Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament in the Fillon II government; both were ministers simultaneously for a few months in 2010–2011, the first time a couple ever sat in a French government.

Early life

Michèle Marie was born on 10 September 1946 in

Alliot-Marie started her electoral career in 1983 as Municipal Councillor for the Basque-area village of Ciboure (in the former province of Labourd and now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department), located south of her father's political base of Biarritz, near Saint-Jean-de-Luz; she stayed on until 1988. In 1989, she was elected to another council, this time in Biarritz, alongside her father. In 1990, as part of the municipal majority behind the first Deputy Mayor Didier Borotra of the UDF-CDS, she passed draft legislation in opposition to build a hotel-casino on the front of the main beach of the town,^[8] which caused a collapse of the council. Early municipal elections in 1991 were won by Didier Borotra, who united the local UDF, two elected Socialists, and Basque nationalists, who provided additional support.^[14] She left the council at the same time that her father was defeated as Mayor. She then served as Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz from 1995 until 2002, and as First Deputy Mayor since then. She was also a member and a Vice President of the General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques between 1994 and 2001.

National politics

Alliot-Marie was elected to the

From 1989 to 1993, she was a Member of the European Parliament as a member of the political group European Democratic Alliance.^[16]

President of the RPR

In 1999, "MAM" entered the challenge for the presidency of the RPR against Chirac's candidate and, to most insiders' surprise, won by a landslide, becoming the first woman to lead a major French political party. She remained President of the party until 2002 when it merged with the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), a merger she opposed at first.

Defense ministership

She remained a leading Gaullist after the RPR merger into the UMP, and created her own movement within the party, Le Chêne (The Oak). Although she publicly considered competing with Nicolas Sarkozy for the UMP nomination in the 2007 presidential election, she ruled herself out of the running in January 2007 and endorsed Sarkozy. Sarkozy and Alliot-Marie had a history of disagreements in the party's National Council.^[1]

Interior and Justice ministerships

After Sarkozy's election as president, Alliot-Marie was appointed Minister of the Interior, the Overseas and Local Communities in François Fillon's government, being the first woman to hold the position.^[1]

Two years later, after the 2009 European Parliament election, she was appointed Minister of Justice and Liberties and Keeper of the Seals and was bestowed the title of Minister of State, which gave her the most senior rank in the government after the Prime Minister. She was made a Vice President of the UMP the same year.

Foreign Affairs ministership

In November 2010, Alliot-Marie was appointed Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, remaining Minister of State and being again the first female holder of the office.

When

Her situation embarrassing the government, she resigned as Foreign Minister on 27 February 2011 after only a few months in office.[27] She was succeeded by outgoing Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé.

In the

• Member of the European Parliament : 1989-1992 (resignation); since 2014. Elected in 1989, 2014.

National Assembly

• Deputy to the
  National Assembly for Pyrénées-Atlantiques
  (6th constituency): elected in March 1986 (became minister in March 1986) / 1988–1993 / elected in March 1993 (became minister in 1993) / 1995–2002 (became minister in 2002) / reelected in 2007 (remained a minister) / 2011-2012 (defeated). Elected in 1986, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2007.

• Vice President of the General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques: 1994–2001.
• General Councillor of Pyrénées-Atlantiques: 1994–2001.

Municipal Council

• Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz: 1995-2002 (resignation). Reelected in 2001.
• Deputy Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz : Since 2002. Reelected in 2008.
• Municipal Councillor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz: since 1995, reelected in 2001, 2008.
• Municipal Councillor of Biarritz: 1989–1991.
• Municipal Councillor of Ciboure: 1983–1988.

Party political offices

• President of the Rally for the Republic: 1999–2002 (party dissolved). Elected in 1999.
• Vice President of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2009–2012.
• Vice President of The Republicans National Council: since 2015.

Controversy

In 1972, a guard prevented Alliot-Marie from entering the National Assembly chamber because she was wearing pants; women were not allowed to wear pants to work in white-collar government jobs until the late 1960s and not in the Assembly until some years later.^[29]

In early 2009, Alliot-Marie received an anonymous death threat accompanied by a 9mm-calibre bullet.^[30]

In 2016, French investigating judge Sabine Kheris requested that a case involving Dominique de Villepin, Michel Barnier and Michèle Alliot-Marie be referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic. These former ministers were suspected of having allowed the exfiltration of the mercenaries responsible for the attack on the Bouaké camp in 2004, killing nine French soldiers. The operation was allegedly intended to justify a response operation against the Laurent Gbagbo government in the context of the 2004 crisis in Ivory Coast.^[31]

Personal life

Michèle Marie married anthropologist Michel Alliot [fr] in 1971, taking the name Michèle Alliot-Marie. They divorced in 1984.

In the French media, she is nicknamed "MAM".

Since 1988, her life partner has been Patrick Ollier, who briefly served as President of the National Assembly in 2007 and subsequently chaired the Assembly's Economy Committee. In November 2010, he was appointed Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament in the Fillon II government. Both were ministers simultaneously for a few months in 2010–2011, the first time a couple ever sat in a French government. Due to her higher public profile, he has been nicknamed "Patrick Ollier-Marie" or "POM".

Decorations and distinctions

Decorations

• Commander of the Order of the Star of Anjouan (Comoros)
• Côte d'Ivoire)^[32]
• Officer of the Order of the Republic (Egypt)
• Commander of the Order of the Equatorial Star (Gabon)^[32]
• Masterful First Class Fins (Peru)^[32]

Distinctions

• Prix de la révélation politique de l'année (English: "Price for Political Revelation of the Year") 1999 -
  Trombinoscope - being elected as President of the Rally for the Republic party^[33]
• Ministre de l'année (English: "Minister of the Year") 2005 - Trombinoscope

Biography

• Darmon, Michaël (2006). Michèle Alliot-Marie, la grande muette [Michèle Alliot-Marie, the Great Mute] (in French). France: L'Archipel.
  ISBN 2-84187-831-7
  .

Publications

• Le salarié actionnaire [Employee Shareholders] (PhD in law thesis) (in French).
  Panthéon-Assas University
  . 1973.
• Les Décisions politiques et structures administratives [Policy Decisions and Administrative Structures] (PhD in political science thesis) (in French).
  Paris I
  . 1982.
• La Décision politique - Attention ! Une République peut en cacher une autre [Political Decision - Attention! A Republic Can Hide Another] (in French). Paris, France:
  ISBN 2-13-038008-5
  .
• La Grande Peur des classes moyennes [The Great Fear of the Middle Class] (in French). Paris, France: La table ronde. 1996.
  ISBN 2-7103-0768-5
  .
• Les boursiers étrangers en France: errements et potentialités [Foreign Scholars in France and Potential Mistakes] (Report) (in French). Rapport parlementaire au nom de la commission des affaires étrangères (English: 'Parliamentary Report on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs'). 1997.
• La République des irresponsables [Republic of Irresponsibles] (in French). France: Odile Jacob. 1999.
  ISBN 2-7381-0727-3
  .
• Le Chêne qu'on relève [The Oak Notes That] (in French). France: Odile Jacob. 2005.
  ISBN 2-7381-1690-6
  .
• Une femme au cœur du pouvoir d'état [A Woman at the Heart of State Power] (in French). Paris, France:
  ISBN 978-2-259-21824-5
  .

External links

• Profile at French National Assembly Website (in French) (Translate to English: Google, Bing, Yandex)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michèle Alliot-Marie.

Political offices
Preceded by Frédérique Bredin	Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports 1993–1995	Succeeded by Guy Drut
Preceded by Paul Badiola	Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz 1995-2002	Succeeded by Pierre (Peyuco) Duhart
Preceded by Alain Richard	Minister of Defence 2002–2007	Succeeded by Hervé Morin
Preceded by François Baroin	Minister of the Interior 2007–2009	Succeeded by Brice Hortefeux
Preceded by Rachida Dati	Minister of Justice 2009–2010	Succeeded by Michel Mercier
Preceded by Bernard Kouchner	Minister of Foreign and European Affairs 2010–2011	Succeeded by Alain Juppé
Party political offices
Preceded by Nicolas Sarkozy	President of Rally for the Republic 1999–2002	Succeeded by Serge Lepeltier Acting