Souad Zitouni (; born 23 April 1974 in Boukadir) is a French lawyer and politician of

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...

(LREM) who served as a member of 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 repr ...

from 2020 to

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, representing the

Vaucluse's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of the Vaucluse (French language, French: ''Première circonscription de Vaucluse'') is a French legislative Constituency (France), constituency in the Vaucluse ''Departments of France, département''. Like the other 576 Fre ...

Early life and education

Zitouni was born in 1974 in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, she was four years old when her family moved to France, to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. Zitouni studied at

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, List of rulers of Provence, Count of ...

, where she obtained a master's degree in public law and a specialized graduate diploma in local government management. She continued her training in law school. She practiced law from 2004 at the Avignon Carpentras bars.

Political career

Zitouni began her political activism with

Ecology Generation Ecology Generation () is one of the four green parties in France, along with The Ecologists (), the Independent Ecological Movement (), and Cap Écologie. Founded in 1990 by Brice Lalonde, Environment Minister, upon the suggestion of President ...

, before joining the

Democratic Movement Democratic Movement may refer to: *Brazilian Democratic Movement *Democratic Movement (France) *Democratic Movement (Israel) *Democratic Movement (Italy) *Democratic Italian Movement *Democratic Movement (San Marino) *Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzst ...

. In 2008, she was a candidate for her party in the 2008 municipal elections at Pontet, on the Ambition Le Pontet list led by Michel Bouyol: in sixth position, she was not elected. Ten years later, Zitouni joined

and campaigned for

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

during the presidential election of 2017. She was a candidate in the legislative elections in

, as substitute candidate for Jean-François Cesarini. They were elected, with 58% in the second round against a candidate from the National Front. Cesarini died on March 29, 2020, and Zitouni automatically succeeded him the next day. In parliament, Zitouni joined the LREM group. She served on the Committee on Sustainable Development and Regional Planning. In 2020, Zitouni joined ''

En commun En Commun () is a French environmentalist political party created in 2020 by En Marche MPs Barbara Pompili, Hugues Renson and Jacques Maire. The party is a member of the Ensemble coalition, which supported Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel ...

'' (EC), a group within LREM led by

Barbara Pompili Barbara Pompili (; born 13 June 1975) is a French politician who served as Minister of the Ecological Transition under Prime Minister Jean Castex from 2020 to 2022. Pompili has previously served as member of the National Assembly for the 2nd c ...

. Zitouni lost her seat in the first round of the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 Deputy (France), members of the 16th National Assembly (France), National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic. Th ...

Political positions

In 2020, Zitouni went against her parliamentary group's majority and abstained from an important vote on a much discussed security bill drafted by her colleagues Alice Thourot and

Jean-Michel Fauvergue Jean-Michel Fauvergue (; born 31 January 1957) is a French former police commander and politician who served in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2022, representing the 8th constituency of the Seine-et-Marne department. He is a member of Rena ...

that helps, among other measures, curtail the filming of police forces.Elisa Braun (November 24, 2020)
Controversial security bill puts pressure on French interior minister
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zitouni, Souad 1974 births Living people Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French people of Algerian descent 21st-century French women politicians Aix-Marseille University alumni Algerian emigrants to France Women members of the National Assembly (France) 21st-century French lawyers 21st-century French women lawyers Renaissance (French political party) politicians