Hors mariage, point de suffrages (The Australian, 3 juillet 2006)
Ségolène Royal på väg till en presskonferens
tillsammans med sin sambo* François Hollande,
socialistpartiets ledare. Medan han går
under namnet ”flamby"**, brylépuddingen**,
växer hennes popularitet som
fransk presidentkandidat.
photo tirée du Svenska Dagbladet
édition du 20 januari 2006 01:00
NDLR : 1. sambo est un hypocoristique suédois
signifiant "concubin" (som bor tillsammans)
2. "flamby", brylépuddingen = "Fraise des bois"
(traduction non garantie)
Hitch in Royal's election plan
Adam Sage, Paris
03jul06
AFTER 25 years of unwedded bliss, Segolene Royal, the leading Socialist contender for the French presidential election, may enter the "bourgeois institution" of marriage. The ceremony would be "strictly for family members", she added, differentiating herself from her biggest challenger, Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right Interior Minister who goes out of his way to be seen in public with his wife, Cecilia. Ms Royal was questioned about her marital plans after the President of the French overseas territory of Polynesia, Oscar Temaru, offered to conduct her wedding in Tahiti. Journalists thought Mr Temaru was joking, but Le Figaro reported: "At end of the day, it would seem to be serious." Mr Hollande, who appears increasingly irritated by the rise of his political and life partner, has made no comment. Ms Royal's remark on a train to Paris after a political rally in Brittany stunned the Parisian chattering classes, for whom "Segolene and Francois" symbolise the modern, urban family. The couple, both aged 52, have lived together since they were students at the prestigious higher education institution, L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration, in 1980, but, like 15 per cent of French couples, they have never tied the knot. Until recently, Ms Royal said she never would. Asked in 2004 whether she intended to marry Mr Hollande if she ran for the presidency, she replied: "Certainly not. I need my freedom and my autonomy". Two weeks ago, in an interview with the French gay magazine, Tetu, she dismissed marriage as a bourgeois institution. But the old French political adage hors mariage, point de suffrages (outside marriage, no votes) is perhaps playing on her mind. Not only has France never had a female president, it has also never elected an unmarried candidate. Ms Royal argues that French society is changing faster than most politicians realise and has become open and tolerant. But although that is true of Paris and other big cities, it is more debatable in rural France. A wedding could serve to calm concerns in the Catholic countryside about her candidacy. The Times © The Australian
Ms Royal said she was considering a civil wedding with the father of her four children, Francois Hollande, who is the Socialist Party head and an outsider for the presidency next year.