Dominique Baudis

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Dominique Baudis (2008)

Dominique Baudis (born April 14, 1947 in Paris , † April 10, 2014 ibid) was a French journalist and politician ( UDF , UMP ). He was mayor of Toulouse from 1983 to 2001 ; 1988–94 and 1997–2001 member of the Assemblée nationale and 1984–89, 1994–97 and 2009–11 member of the European Parliament .

Life

Origin, education and occupation

Dominique Baudis (right) with his father Pierre (1982)

Dominique Baudis was the son of the Christian Democratic politician Pierre Baudis , who was a member of the National Assembly and from 1971 mayor of Toulouse. After finishing school, he studied at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), where he received his diploma in 1968.

From 1971 he worked as a journalist in Lebanon . He was injured in the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. As a foreign correspondent for ORTF and for the French TV station TF1 , he reported from the Middle East. From 1977 to 1980 he presented the 8 p.m. news on TF1, then until 1982 he was the newscaster on Soir 3 , the evening news on FR3 . Then he left television to devote himself entirely to politics.

From May 2000 to January 2001 he headed the editorial committee of the daily Le Figaro .

Political party

At the age of 18, Baudis took part in the founding of the Christian Democratic party Center démocrate (CD) in 1966, to which his father was a member. He was also one of the founders and leaders of the youth organization of this party, the Mouvement des jeunes démocrates . From 1976 he was a member of the Center des démocrates sociaux (CDS), which emerged from the CD and which belonged to the civic party alliance UDF of President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing . In 2009 he moved to the center-right collecting party UMP .

Local and regional policy

Baudis in 1985

He was elected to the parish council of Boulogne-Billancourt , a suburb of Paris, in 1971 . As the successor to his father Pierre Baudis, he was elected Mayor of Toulouse in 1983 and remained in this office until 2001. From 1986 to 1988 he was also President of the Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées .

National politics

From 1986 to 2001 Baudis was a member of the National Assembly . After the parliamentary elections in 1993 , the UDF nominated him for the office of President of the Assemblée nationale, but given the majority situation he was unable to prevail against Philippe Séguin of the RPR . In the run-up to the 1995 presidential election , Baudis was traded as a presidentiable , ie potential presidential candidate, of the UDF.

From 2001 to 2007 he was President of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), which regulates broadcasting in France. In February 2007 he switched to the management of the Institut du monde arabe . On June 22, 2011, he was appointed “Défenseur des Droits” by France, a position that can be compared to the ombudsman or ombudsman in other countries.

MEP

Baudis in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (2009)

Baudis was a member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1989, from 1994 to 1997 and from 2009 to June 2011 . In the European elections in 1994 he was the top candidate for the joint list of the bourgeois parties UDF and RPR (L'Union UDF-RPR) , which was the strongest force with 25.6% of the vote, but this was a loss compared to 1989. Baudis was a member of the Christian Democratic EPP Group in the European Parliament and was its board member from 1994 to 1997. He was Vice-Chairman of the Transport Committee from 1984–85 and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2009–11 .

Alègre / Baudis affair

In spring 2003, two former prostitutes - called "Patricia" and "Fanny" - reported that Baudis had taken part in sadomasochistic evenings in the 1990s organized by the serial killer Patrice Alègre . "Patricia" said she was raped by Baudis. The statements were made public on April 1, 2003, Baudis dismissed the allegations. The public was divided between those who believed the two women and those who believed Baudis' innocence. At the time of the alleged act, which is said to have taken place in Toulouse, Baudis had appointments in Paris. In September 2003 "Fanny" withdrew her claim; "Patricia" stuck to her version, but got caught up in contradictions. The investigating judge exonerated Baudis in January 2005, two months later the proceedings were discontinued by non-lieu .

Private life and death

Baudis was divorced and remarried. He had one child from his first marriage and two from his second marriage. A few days before his 67th birthday, he died of cancer in the Val-de-Grâce hospital in Paris . On April 15, 2014, a national honor for Baudis was held in the Invalides Cathedral under the direction of President François Hollande . The next day, the funeral mass was celebrated in Toulouse Cathedral and he was buried next to his father in the Cimetière de Terre-Cabade.

Honors

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Dominique Baudis, mort d'un hyperactif. In: Europe1 , April 10, 2014.
  2. ^ Jean-Marie Colombani, Jean-Yves Lhomeau: Les Héritiers. Flammarion, 1989, p. 49.
  3. ↑ Hervé Desprez, Olivier Lerner: Fils à papa? Belfond 1989.
  4. ↑ Cherfi Nordine: Les Baudis. In: L'Express , April 25, 2002.
  5. ↑ Uwe Jun: The second “cohabitation” in France (since April 1993). Territory gains of the parties and parliament. In: Winfried Steffani, Uwe Thaysen: Democracy in Europe. On the role of parliaments. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1995, p. 152.
  6. ^ David Hanley: Christian Democracy in Europe. A comparative perspective. Pinter, London / New York 1996, p. 166.
  7. ↑ Dimitri Almeida: Secularity in Conflict. Religion and Politics in France. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2017, p. 163.
  8. ↑ Dirk Zadra: The change in the French party system. The “présidentiables” in the Fifth Republic. Leske + Budrich, Opladen, p. 136.
  9. ^ Valérie Guérin-Sendelbach: France and the united Germany. Interests and perceptions in the field of tension. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1999, p. 210.
  10. ^ Entry on Dominique Baudis in the European Parliament 's database of deputies
  11. ↑ Sandrine Issartel: Dominique Baudis pris au piège d'une «histoire faite pour door." In: Slate.fr , August 28, 2017.
  12. ↑ Le Défenseur des droits et ancien maire de Toulouse Dominique Baudis est mort , accessed on April 12, 2014 (French)
  13. ↑ Obsèques de Dominique Baudis: Toulouse rend homage à son ancien maire. In: LaDepeche.fr , April 16, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Dominique Baudis  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Baudis, Dominique
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French journalist and politician (UMP), member of the National Assembly, MEP
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 2014
Place of death Paris