Josette Manin (born 16 March 1950,

Le Lamentin Le Lamentin (; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Lanmanten; ) is a city and town, located in the French overseas department and region of Martinique. With its 62,32 km2, it is the town with the largest area of Martinique. Le Lamentin, with nea ...

) is a French politician on the island of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

. She was the last President of the General Council of Martinique, from 31 March 2011 to 31 December 2015, and was the representative of Martinique's 1st constituency in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 2017 to 2022. She was the first woman to be elected President of the General Council and as a deputy for Martinique in the French National Assembly. In March 2022, she announced that she would not seek re-election in the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in ...

Career

In 1983, Manin joined the Martinican Communist Party and became a militant under Georges Gratiant. She began her political career the same year, being elected as a municipal councilor in Le Lamentin. When she was reelected in 1995, she joined Pierre-Jean Samot, then the mayor of Le Lamentin, in the ''Lamentin Horizon 2001 - développement, solidarité, justice'' project. Three years later, she left the Communist Party and joined Samot's Build the Martinique Country party. In 2001, Manin was elected councilor general in

Le Lamentin 3rd Canton Est Le Lamentin 3rd Canton Est is a former canton in the Arrondissement of Fort-de-France The arrondissement of Fort-de-France (french: arrondissement de Fort-de-France, link=no) is an arrondissement in the French overseas region and department of M ...

and assistant mayor of the city.

Presidency of the general council

In March 2011, Manin was selected to be the

President of the General Council In France, the President of the Departmental Council ( French: ''Président du Conseil départemental'') is the locally elected head of the departmental council, the assembly governing a department in France. The position is elected by the depa ...

candidate for the ''Ensemble, pour une Martinique nouvelle'' bloc, composed of the Build the Martinique Country party,

Martinican Progressive Party The Martinican Progressive Party (french: Parti progressiste martiniquais, PPM) is a democratic socialist political party in Martinique. It was founded on March 22, 1958 by poet Aimé Césaire after breaking off from the French Communist Party. Th ...

, Franciscan People's Movement,

Socialist Federation of Martinique Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

, and the''Vivre à Schoelcher'' movement. In the third round of the election process, Manin narrowly defeated Alfred Sinosa, becoming the first female President of the General Council in Martinique, and the second in the Caribbean, to hold the position. She also became the last President, as the French government, in December 2015, merged the regional and general councils for the island into one assembly with the formation of the territorial collective of Martinique.

National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Manin was elected to the

to represent Martinique alongside Bruno Nestor Azerot,

Serge Letchimy Serge Letchimy (; born 13 January 1953) is the President of the Executive Council of Martinique and former member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the island of Martinique's 3rd constituency since June 2007, and is a member of ...

, and Jean-Philippe Nilor. Manin has spoken in the National Assembly about the plight of West Indies Amerindians poisoned by

kepone Chlordecone, better known in the United States under the brand name Kepone, is an organochlorine compound and a colourless solid. It is an obsolete insecticide, now prohibited in the western world, but only after many thousands of tonnes had be ...

and criticized the French government for cutting jobs in education on Martinique.

Footnotes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manin, Josette Living people 1950 births 20th-century French women politicians Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French people of Martiniquais descent Black French politicians Martiniquais politicians People from Le Lamentin 21st-century French women politicians