Laurent Fabius

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Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
In office
17 July 1984 – 20 March 1986
Preceded by Pierre Mauroy
Succeeded by Jacques Chirac
Born 20 August 1946 (1946-08-20) (age 61)
Paris
Political party Socialist
Spouse Françoise Castro (div.)
Religion Judaism

Laurent Fabius (born 20 August 1946) is a former Socialist Prime Minister of France. He led the government from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.

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Fabius was born in Paris, the son of André Fabius, a wealthy French Sephardic Jewish art dealer, and his wife Louise (née Mortimer). Before divorcing his wife, the producer Françoise Castro, he had two sons: Thomas (b. 1982), a CEO, and Victor (b. 1983), a student at the École Normale Supérieure.

After his studies, he became an auditor for the Council of State. He was first elected to the French National Assembly in 1978 as of the Socialist Party candidate for the fourth constituency of Seine Maritime. He quickly gained entry to the circle of François Mitterrand, the leader of the party.

When Mitterrand was elected President of France in 1981, Fabius was nominated Minister of the Budget. Two years later, he became Minister of Industry. In 1984, a government shake up by Mitterrand led him to be appointed Prime Minister (choosing him over the likes of Pierre Bérégovoy and Jacques Delors) at the age of 37. He advocated a new French socialism which accepts the market economy. He resigned after the Socialist defeat in the 1986 legislative election.

He came to be seen as Lionel Jospin's rival to be Mitterrand's heir. He failed to win the First Secretaryship of the party in 1988 and 1990 (Rennes Congress) in spite of Mitterrand's support. Installed as chairman of the National Assembly in 1988 (at 41 years of age, the equal youngest in the history of the lower house), he succeeded finally in becoming First Secretary of the party in 1992, but resigned after the Socialist disaster of the 1993 legislative election.

Symbol of a "modern" French socialism, he was weakened by the "infected blood scandal". His government was accused of having knowingly let doctors give haemophiliacs transfusions of blood infected by the AIDS virus. A judicial process similar to Impeachment acquitted him of all personal moral responsibility in the matter but he has never been absolved by public opinion.

He came back as chairman of the National Assembly in 1997, then as Minister of Economy between 2000 and 2002. After the retirement of Lionel Jospin, he hoped to return as Socialist leader but he failed. He declared that his mind was changed about a number of matters and he joined the left-wing of the party.

In this position he was the leader of the defeated no camp in the vote that took place among the members of his party on 1 December 2004, to decide the stance that the party would take on the impending Referendum on the European Constitution. He went on to lead the rebel faction of the party advocating a no vote in the 2005 Referendum, and was seen as the spearhead of the whole no campaign in France. After the no vote won, the party leader gave an assurance that he could remain in the party though he was dismissed from the party's National Executive Committee.

He was a candidate in the Socialist Party's primary election to be the party's candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but finished third, behind Ségolène Royal, the winner, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the June 2007 parliamentary election.[1]

  1. ^ CV at National Assembly website (French).

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Changes

Preceded by
Jean-Pierre Chevènement		 Minister of Industry
1983–1984		 Succeeded by
Edith Cresson
Minister of Research
1983–1984		 Succeeded by
Hubert Curien
Preceded by
Pierre Mauroy		 Prime Minister of France
1984–1986		 Succeeded by
Jacques Chirac
Preceded by
Jacques Chaban-Delmas		 President of the National Assembly
1988–1992		 Succeeded by
Henri Emmanuelli
Preceded by
Pierre Mauroy		 First Secretary of the Socialist Party
1992–1993		 Succeeded by
Michel Rocard
Preceded by
Philippe Séguin		 President of the National Assembly
1997–2000		 Succeeded by
Raymond Forni
Preceded by
Christian Sautter		 Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry
2000–2002		 Succeeded by
Francis Mer
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Fabius"
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