To the question, is the country not ready to have a woman Prime Minister, Edith Cresson, the only woman to have held this position, has a sharp answer: “It is not the country that is macho: it is its political class!”
In an interview given to the Journal du Dimanche , the one who was a tenant of Matignon from 1991 to 1992, described as “scandalous” the fact of asking this kind of question.
The former Prime Minister returned to the attacks she suffered during her political life: “The same as today: I was constantly criticized, people made comments about my dress”. Criticisms which, according to Edith Cresson, would “never be allowed” about politicians.
The one who was minister four times said she regretted the fact that “for a president, to appoint a woman is to take a risk”: “The post of Prime Minister is a very difficult post but the difficulties are increased by the fact that the head of government is a woman, because the attacks further complicate the political situation,” she said.