Paris. Legislative: Dati maintains his candidacy despite Barnier's investiture and the Renault-Nissan trial

Culture Minister Rachida Dati , who is aiming for the Paris mayoralty in 2026, announced this Saturday that she is maintaining her candidacy for the by-election in the ^2nd constituency of Paris against former Prime Minister Michel Barnier , who was nevertheless nominated by his party Les Républicains (LR).

"This will be the first step in rallying and building momentum for victory in Paris […]. I call on the political forces of the right and the center to take responsibility. From now on, I will assume mine and I will do so until the end," she declared in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, despite the legal proceedings against her.

“Give Parisians back the city they deserve”

The LR mayor of the ^7th arrondissement did not appreciate the candidacy of Michel Barnier, whom she considers to be "instrumentalized," in this constituency where the election of Macronist MP Jean Laussucq was invalidated by the Constitutional Council for irregularities in his campaign accounts. The election is scheduled to take place on September 21 and 28.

For his part, Michel Barnier insisted in early August that he was not "a candidate for anything other than parliamentary office." At the end of July, the president of the Paris LR federation, Agnès Evren, still hoped to reach an agreement "by the start of the school year" with Rachida Dati in order to avoid a fratricidal war.

This was without taking into account Rachida Dati's determination to fight. "I am running for office with Parisians for one goal: to win Paris and give Parisians back the city they deserve," she told the weekly, believing that Paris is "going through an unprecedented crisis."

"Today, we have the historic opportunity to turn this page. We have a solid project, elected officials in all boroughs, and the energy to transform our capital," she added, calling for "all the forces of the right and the center to unite around a common project."

Trial date set for end of September

Excluded from the Republicans in 2024 after being recruited in January 2024 by Gabriel Attal to join his government as Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati has resumed her membership with LR.

Rachida Dati, 59, must match this electoral agenda with her judicial agenda: she was sent on July 22 to stand trial for corruption and influence peddling.

She is suspected of having received 900,000 euros between 2010 and 2012 for consultancy services with a subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, but without having actually worked, while she was a lawyer and a member of the European Parliament.

She has appealed the decision. The exact trial date is expected to be set at a first hearing scheduled for September 29.