By Darius KADIVAR, Paris
©photocomposition DK
President Nicolas
Sarkozy's centre-right party has won a majority in parliamentary elections in
France, according to early poll
projections. But his UMP party fell
far short of the landslide majority it was predicted to win in the second-round
vote. The opposition Socialists fared better than expected, the early results
said. Voter turnout was low, at about 60%.
The UMP and allied
parties would win 341-357 seats, according to polling institutions, down from
359 in the previous parliament. Socialists were braced for up to 233 seats in
the 577-member National Assembly, up from 149.
Arash Derambarsh, author of book "How
can we belong to the Right Wing Today ?"
© arashderambarsh.spaces.live.com
The results are
seen as a minor setback for Mr Sarkozy's party, according to political observers
in Paris, but
the victory gives Mr Sarkozy enough room to start pushing his reforms through
parliament. However for the first time in years the French National Front party
of Far Right Jean Marie Le Pen sees
a real setback and absolutely no single representative in the Parliament. The
interesting aspect of these elections is that French nationals of foreign
heritage have for the first time been represented in political parties be them of right wing or left wing. The
government of Sarkozy also named a French national of Algerian and Morrocan
heritage as minister
of Justice Rachida Dati.
Passionate debates seem however to make
a comback in France's Political Arena and all
communities seem to see in this context an oppurtunity for change and
representation. It should be noted that the newly elected President Nicholas
Sarkozy is a first generation French citizen. His parents are immigrants from
Hungary and his rival Segolen
Royale was also born in French Colonial African city of Dakar in Senegal. Both have made it to the top
of their respective political parties and their confrontation at the
presidential elections of this year, seem to announce a generational renewal of
French political life in general.
Interestingly this generational renewal
has also reached out to the Persian Community that represents a socially well
off constituency and particularly integrated socially in France ever since the
major immigration of Iranians in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution of
1979.
Iran connection: Arash(
eyeglasses ), with Mansour Bahrami (tennis champ),
Mahar Monshipour (boxer),
and Ghass (painter).
©arashderambarsh.spaces.live.com
Two ambitious
Iranians are now running for political representation but in two competing
parties. Paris born 27 years old Arash Derambarsh
runs for Sarkozy under the colours of center right UDF party while Isfahan native Forough
Salami runs for Segolene Royale Socialist Party. She is regional consultant for
the Socialist Party's representation in French Britanny and is particularly
concerned by issues related to education. But it is certainly the dashing Arash
Derambarsh who has been making most headlines in the French press and on
Television for his charisma and bold political statements against the National
Front party of Jean Marie Le Pen but also for his open debates with competing
colleagues in his own Party as well as socialist rivals. Son of Iranian film
director Kioumars
Derambarsh, he
certainly knows how to work on his own public image and deal with the press as a
medium.
Forough Salami Socialist Party Consultant in French
Britanny.
© Forough Salami
The son of Iranian
immigrants who arrived in France at the break of the Islamic
Revolution, Mr. Derambarsh nevertheless speaks Persian and is a great fan of
Iranian Cinema and literature. He studied Law at the Sorbonne and he has been
working in several publishing houses, such as Ramsay and the Cherche Midi Editions that have recently
published the memoires of another Iranian Compatriot, the Tennis Champ Mansour
Bahrami whom he befriends as well as French Iranian Boxer Mahyar Monshipour. He
has also worked at the Ministry of Interior and the French Foreign
Office.
What will be the
future career of these two political newcomers is still hard to say, but what is
certain is that the Iranian community is well represented by two enthusiastic
first generation French Iranians who have kept their ties with their community
of origin.
Royal-Sarkozy represent a new generation of French
politicians.
Segolene Royale was born in Dakar and Nicholas Sarkozy is
of
Hungarian Heritage ©PS & UMP
Recommended Reading:
About the
Author:
Darius KADIVAR is a Freelance Journalist, Film Historian, and Columnist for OCPC Magazine in LA and
Paris.
... Payvand News - 6/20/07 ...
