Female President
I didn't expect to feel as happy as I did at the prospect of the first ever female Bundeskanzlerin. It might be another small step forward for women's emancipation but it still doesn't mean I'm going to like the Christian Democrats.
However, the response to Ségolène Royal putting herself forward as a potential Parti Socialiste candidate for the 2007 presidential elections has reminded me that beggars can't be choosers. "Who's going to look after the children?" (Royal has four.) And that was from her own party.
France briefly had a female Prime Minister (Edith Cresson) in 1991 but I don't think Angela Merkel will be shaking the hand of a female President any time soon. Currently, out of 577 MPs, only 71 are women. Political parties would rather pay millions of euros in fines than meet the gender equality quota on their candidate lists. To give an example of how entrenched the old boys' network is in political life, 90% of senior civil servants graduate from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration and quite a few of those continue on into government.
So here's a toast to Ms Merkel.
However, the response to Ségolène Royal putting herself forward as a potential Parti Socialiste candidate for the 2007 presidential elections has reminded me that beggars can't be choosers. "Who's going to look after the children?" (Royal has four.) And that was from her own party.
France briefly had a female Prime Minister (Edith Cresson) in 1991 but I don't think Angela Merkel will be shaking the hand of a female President any time soon. Currently, out of 577 MPs, only 71 are women. Political parties would rather pay millions of euros in fines than meet the gender equality quota on their candidate lists. To give an example of how entrenched the old boys' network is in political life, 90% of senior civil servants graduate from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration and quite a few of those continue on into government.
So here's a toast to Ms Merkel.