Posted at 6:00 a.m.
A suprise ? Who is that ?
Rachel Keke. Pronounce Kéké. She was elected last Sunday in the 7e constituency of Val-de-Marne, for the party La France insoumise (radical left). Surprise because this 47-year-old Franco-Ivorian is the very first chambermaid to enter the National Assembly.
Room maid ? Nice feat!
Yes, especially since she beat Roxana Maracineanu, the former Minister of Sports in the Macronist government! By a very small margin, it must be said: only 177 votes separate them (50.3% against 49.7%)!
But where does this Rachel Keke come from?
This mother of five children arrived in France in 2000 and was naturalized in 2015. She rose to prominence in 2019 during a strike by chambermaids at an Ibis hotel in the Paris region, which lasted 22 months. This highly publicized labor dispute ended in favor of the strikers. Better salaries, better working conditions and even better uniforms (cotton instead of synthetic)! This launched his political career.
How does she see her role as an MP?
As the extension of its union ambitions. She presents herself as “the voice of the voiceless”. She wants to defend the rights of invisible workers. Chambermaids, but also educators, caregivers, beneficiary attendants, security guards, etc. She often repeats that there is “no France without essential workers”. Coming from the working classes, she advocates a policy of proximity and promises that she will “roar” if necessary.
nice post
In effect. Butme It wasn’t long before Keke was caught up in the controversy. Some of his old Facebook posts, dating back to 2018, resurfaced this week on social media. She notably defended the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, the height for an immigrant on the left! She assumes, but says to have evolved in terms of ideas: “I shared posts that absolutely do not reflect who I am and what I defend today in my political fight. »
Quite a baptism of fire!
Yes, and it’s probably not over. Some political columnists are already denouncing her lack of education (she left school in the sixth grade). “You cannot be a deputy and ignorant”, notably launched the right-wing polemicist Élisabeth Lévy, praying that she does not wear her African boubou in the Assembly. Others, on the other hand, see it as living proof that everyone, regardless of origins and professional background, can be elected as an MP.
She is not the only one in this case, is she?
No, other atypical candidates will also enter the French Parliament. A delivery driver who aspires to fight against poverty, an organic agricultural worker, a pro-LGBTQ+ teleoperator, a beneficiary attendant, a postwoman, a caregiver, a policeman who is a former professional boxer, a taxi driver who fights against the “uberization” of the sector and – beware – a blind piano tuner, vice-champion of France in bodybuilding! We will not be bored!
Sources: France 24, The ParisianAgence France-Presse, Sud Radio and Médiapart