The new Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne dedicated her appointment on Monday May 16, 2022 “to all the little girls“, which she invited to “go after (their) dreams“, during her transfer of power to Matignon with Jean Castex. The new head of government with a brilliant CV, “very moved“, also explained to have”a thought for the first woman who held these positions, Edith Cresson” between May 1991 and April 1992, and held that “nothing should stop the fight for the place of women in our society“. It will therefore have taken thirty years for another woman to reach this high position. At the time, the Minister of the Presidency of François Mitterrand had not been spared by her male peers, as she recently told in the podcast There is no death of man.
In October 2021, Edith Cresson was the guest of the exciting podcast There is no death of man led by journalist Hélène Goutany, collaborator of elected officials Fiona Texeire and Geneviève Fraisse, philosopher of feminism. For the first episode, they had chosen the one who was, at the time, the only woman at the head of the government. At 88, the politician had very vivid memories of her very full and admirable political career, where sexist attacks were very numerous.
Appointed Minister of Agriculture by François Mitterrand from 1981 to 1983, she remembered the words of the president of the FNSEA, the main agricultural union: “We see the President’s contempt for Agriculture since he appointed a woman to this position.“But that’s nothing compared to the rest of the attacks that politics had to take afterward, as she confided: “Then I went to the first meeting that the FNSEA held. There was a large hall with about 800 people. And there was a big banner from one side of the room to the other with the writing ‘Edith, we hope you’re better than in bed ministry‘.” To which, the witty minister replied, “So I told them, it’s good that I’m at the Ministry of Agriculture, because since I’m dealing with pigs, I’m going to have to take care of you.“
Ten years later, President Mitterrand chose Edith Cresson as Prime Minister to succeed Michel Rocard. A position that she refused at first to then try the big challenge. On Antenne 2, she was questioned by Philippe Lefait on her status as a woman and the reactions to her appointment. She must have reacted to the fact that she was presented in some way as a courtesan or a favorite: “I may be the favourite, but the favorite of my constituents.“
His reaction to the appointment of Elisabeth Borne
Mayor, deputy, minister of several portfolios, Prime Minister and European Commissioner, Edith Cresson expressed her opinion on the appointment of Elisabeth Borne by re-elected President Emmanuel Macron. “I think she’s a very good choice, because she’s a remarkable person, not because she’s a woman.“, she said on BFMTV. She judged “extraordinary” that the country haswaited so long“for a woman to be reappointed as head of government, believing that”France is a particularly backward country, not the French population, but the political class“, citing the examples of Germany and the United Kingdom where Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher respectively and for a long time held these positions.
“I think the President of the Republic must have realized that it was indeed time for another woman to be appointed Prime Minister.“, she added, convinced that Elisabeth Borne “know how to cope in a remarkable way with the difficulties which it is obviously likely to encounter“.”She is sufficiently competent and experienced, and in addition she is courageous, which is a very necessary virtue in this function.“explained the former Socialist Prime Minister of François Mitterrand. “Yes, it takes courage because it is an extremely difficult job, you are constantly criticized, not only by political opponents, but also by the press.“, she added.