Bertrand Delanoë

Bertrand Delanoë, May 2007

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Bertrand Delanoë [ bɛʀˌtʀã dəlanɔˈe ] (born May 30, 1950 in Tunis , then a French protectorate ) is a politician of the Socialist Party (PS). From March 18, 2001 to April 5, 2014 he was Mayor of Paris .

Life

Delanoë first grew up in Bizerta . When the French withdrew from the city, Delanoë came to France with his mother, where they lived in the Aveyron department . He studied law and economics in Toulouse . At the age of 23 he was elected secretary of the Socialist Federation in Aveyron. François Mitterrand , who was the first secretary of the Parti Socialiste at the time, brought him to Paris in the early 1970s, where Delanoë temporarily worked for the party headquarters. A close collaboration with Lionel Jospin was established in Paris .

He was a member of the Paris City Council for the first time in 1977. In 1981 he was elected to the National Assembly for Paris . From 1981 to 1983 he was the spokesman for the Parti Socialiste.

For the 1986 parliamentary elections, Delanoë applied for a candidacy in Avignon , but was not nominated. In the same year he founded an advertising and communication agency that made him economically independent from politics. In 1988 he ran again in Paris for the National Assembly, but was defeated by Alain Juppé .

In 1993 he became the chairman of the Socialist Group in the Paris City Council and thus "opposition leader". In the local elections in 1995 he was the “top candidate” of the Parti Socialiste in Paris, but was clearly defeated against the joint list of RPR and UDF , which was headed by Jean Tiberi . In the same year he was elected to the Senate , where he headed the Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defense. After his election as Mayor of Paris in 2001, he resigned from the Senate.

In March 2001 Delanoë was elected Mayor of Paris as the first leftist since the Paris Commune (1871). He benefited from the division of the Conservatives into two lists, which enabled his electoral alliance to win a clear majority of the seats in the city council despite a slight deficit in the votes cast (around 4,000). In the 2008 local elections, the left he led clearly won with almost 58 percent of the vote in the second ballot, and Delanoë was subsequently confirmed as mayor. He did not run for the 2014 local elections.

Bertrand Delanoë was considered the favorite for the election of First Secretary of the Parti Socialiste in 2008, but withdrew his candidacy in favor of Martine Aubry after his tendency was defeated in the vote on the work program . Bertrand Delanoë was also considered a possible candidate for the 2012 presidential election , but decided not to apply for the Parti Socialiste primaries.

Delanoë is openly homosexual and is therefore nicknamed Notre-Dame de Paris . He came out in November 1998 - before taking office as mayor - in a television interview with the French television channel M6 . He has no active role in the gay movement, but publicly supports their actions for legal equality and respect. Among other things, he has increased municipal financial support for gay and lesbian associations such as Act-Up, le Center Gay & Lesbien (CGL) and SOS Homophobie. Every year he opens the Gay Pride Parade in Paris.

Delanoë is a member of the Freemasons Association .

His current deputy, Anne Hidalgo ( PS ) , won the mayoral election on March 30, 2014 to succeed him . Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet ( UMP ) competed alongside others .

attack

On October 5, 2002, he attended the Nuit Blanche , a night of festivities in Paris, and mingled with the participants. During the event he was the victim of a knife attack. The assassin Azedine Berkane is said to have told the police that he hated politicians, the Parti socialist and homosexuals. Before being transported to the hospital, Delanoë ordered that the celebrations should continue. Delanoë's wound was described as not life threatening and he was able to leave the hospital after two weeks.

Political projects

A well-known project was the Olympic candidacy for Paris in 2012, which, however, fell short of London.

He advocates a reduction in air pollution and a reduction in car traffic within the city. For this he had a new tram, line 3 of the Paris tram , as well as a bicycle rental system ( Vélib ' ) built; Vélib 'was supplemented by a car rental system ( Autolib' ) in 2011 . Further measures are car-free days and an expansion of the cycle paths. Since 2013, a 2.5-kilometer section on the left bank of the Seine, from the Pont Royal to the Pont de l'Alma , has been converted into a pedestrian zone and leisure facility after sections of the right bank had already been redesigned (project les berges ). The Paris-Plages offer since 2002, in addition to recreational value, also serves to calm traffic on the right bank of the Seine.

On the social side, there is the construction of further social housing . He also ensured an increase in the number of crèche places.

Another project was an improved Internet connection for Paris and WiFi , which is now available almost everywhere in Paris.

Awards

2006: Honorary doctorate from the Université du Québec à Montréal

literature

Bertrand Delanoë: Pour l'honneur de Paris . Éditions Calmann-Levy, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-7021-3019-4 .
Bertrand Delanoë: La vie, passionnément. Pocket, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-266-15608-X (political autobiography).
Foreword by: Dictionnaire de l'homophobie. Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), Paris 2003, ISBN 2-13-053582-8 .