French UMP party deputy Nathalie Kociusko-Morizet (C) speaks to supporters in a cafe in Paris, the day after she announced her intention to run in the UMP political party primary to be candidate in the 2014 city mayoral elections. — Reuters



PARIS — For the first time in the history of Paris, the battle for the mayor’s office — viewed as a springboard to higher office — is shaping to be an all-female affair in a watershed step forward for women.



Although Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe only steps down next year, at least three women have already thrown their hats into the ring to replace him, a surprise move in a country where top jobs have traditionally been a male preserve.



Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the glamorous former spokeswoman of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, was the first to announce her intention to contest. “It took me a long time to make” the decision, said the 39-year-old, a prominent member of the right-wing UMP party. “But it comes from a real commitment, a serious commitment, to which I will devote all my heart and energy.”



But there is in-house rivalry in the shape of another Sarkozy protege, Rachida Dati, his former justice minister and a 47-year-old single mother of North African origin.



Kosciusko-Morizet is endorsed by former prime minister Francois Fillon while Dati is backed by Jean-Francois Cope, who has locked horns with Fillon to lead the UMP.



The unchallenged Socialist candidate is deputy mayor Anne Hidalgo, 53, a close friend of the popular Delanoe, who was first elected in 2001 and has declared he will not be seeking a third mandate after two six-year terms.

Another potential candidate is Housing Minister Cecile Duflot, 37, from the Green party, who recently told a French newspaper that “nothing was excluded” as far as she was concerned.



France’s Socialist President Francois Hollande had pledged to usher in gender parity during his election campaign and his 34-member cabinet is split down the middle between men and women. “The challenge — three women for Paris — I find that fascinating,” said Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a member of the European Parliament and a leading player in the 1968 student riots that rocked France. “With the three nominations, France is keeping to its promise of equality, it’s the glass ceiling breaking,” said government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem. — AFP