FRANCE:French anti-racism groups have accused a white male-dominated elite of seeking to undermine justice minister Rachida Dati just weeks after she became the first person of North African origin to hold such a senior post.
Billed as an icon for the multiracial meritocracy President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to build, Ms Dati has been pilloried over her crime Bill, stung by the departure of a top aide and also embarrassed by a brother in court on drugs charges.
Despite strong support from Mr Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia, Ms Dati (41) has suffered weeks of bad press. Anti-racism groups now question the motives of those behind the sniping.
"Rachida Dati is the victim of an unjust campaign because of the sound of her family name," Patrick Gaubert, of the Licra anti-racism group, told Le Monde newspaper.
Another group, SOS-Racisme, posed the question in a recent press release: "Rachida - a beurette to be brought down?". Beurette is a slang term for a woman of North African origin.
"France is undergoing a political mutation with this government," SOS-Racisme head Dominique Sopo told Le Monde. "And this mutation of course leads to reservations, tensions within the French elite, which is composed mainly of white men over 50."
Ms Dati, the daughter of a Moroccan bricklayer and an illiterate Algerian housewife, has had a difficult start since Mr Sarkozy appointed her after taking office in May.
Ten days ago, her chief of staff, a former head of France's magistrates' academy, quit after barely a month amid reports of a personality clash, denied by both sides. Three other top advisers have also quit, departures Ms Dati dismissed as mundane staff changes.
"I am there to do a job," she told RTL radio on Tuesday, brushing off the personal attacks against her. "The French people expect the government, the president, to meet their expectations and get to work, quickly."
Her Bill introducing tougher sentences on repeat offenders has been savaged as "useless" and "potentially dangerous" by respected Socialist former justice minister Robert Badinter on its introduction to the Senate.
Left-wing critics say the measures will further pack already overcrowded prisons which serve as "schools for crime" and will worsen repeat offending.
Ms Dati's Bill was due in the lower house National Assembly yesterday even as her brother Jamal was due back in court on drugs charges after prosecutors successfully appealed against his six-month suspended jail sentence as too light.
"All families go through difficult times, difficult events, difficult phases," Ms Dati told RTL, declining further comment as inappropriate.
During the attacks in the media, the thunderous silence of Mr Sarkozy's ruling UMP party has been broken only by the president and Ms Sarkozy, credited with pushing her husband to promote Ms Dati.
"Rachida Dati has an obligation to succeed, because her presence is a message to all the children of France," Mr Sarkozy said at the justice ministry's traditional summer garden party organised by Ms Dati on Friday.
"By her merit, her effort, her commitment, it is possible" to get to the top, Mr Sarkozy said.
Ms Sarkozy told the current edition of the Nouvel Observateur magazine that Ms Dati "is more than a friend, she's my sister".
"She never blunders, she never complains and, what's more, she's beautiful."