Rachida Dati fights back against Sarkozy

Rachida Dati, who is set to stand down in June as France's Justice Minister after falling out of favour with President Nicolas Sarkozy, largely as a result of not being very good at her job, is planning to run for Paris mayor.

Although the post does not fall vacant until 2014, Dati, 43, has plans to build up her own power base. She aims to use her seat on the Paris city council, as well as her largely ceremonial post as mayor of the well-heeled seventh arrondissement, to win over the hearts and minds of Parisians. She then hopes to emerge as the right-wing challenger to the Socialist Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe.

Pierre-Yves Bournazel, Dati's political adviser, told Le Parisien: "The first step is the European election [in June]. That will increase her contacts with local politicians and dignitaries. Parisians will start to think Dati is the centre-right in Paris."

Dati was the first person of North African origin to hold a senior post in any French government. Although she was considered incompetent by many, her cause was not helped by the lurid headlines about the identity of the father of her child, Zohra, to whom she gave birth in January. After a series of names were discounted in the French media’s search for the father, the most likely candidate – according to latest reports – is Ali Bin Fetais al-Marri, Qatar's attorney general.
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