Samia Ghali (; born 10 June 1968) is a French politician who served as a Senator for

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

from 2008 to 2020. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(PS), she also held the mayorship of the 8th sector of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, which comprises the 15th and 16th arrondissements, from 2008 to 2017. Ghali, who has been a deputy to successive Marseille Mayors

Michèle Rubirola Michèle Rubirola (born 28 July 1956) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Marseille from 4 July to 21 December 2020. A physician by occupation, she succeeded Jean-Claude Gaudin, who chose not to run for reelection to a fifth term in of ...

and

Benoît Payan Benoît Payan (born 31 January 1978) is a French politician who has served as Mayor of Marseille since 2020. He is a member of the Socialist Party (PS). Early life Payan was born and raised in Pont-de-Vivaux, in the 10th arrondissement of Marsei ...

since 2020, has also held a seat in the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône since 2021.

Early life

Samia Ghali was born on 10 June 1968 in

, Southern France.Pauline Pelissier
QUI EST SAMIA GHALI, LA "MARIANNE DES QUARTIERS NORD DE MARSEILLE" ?
'' Grazia'', 14 October 2013."Marseille: Samia Ghali, une "vie de misère""
'' L'Express'' (in French), 14 October 2013. She grew up in Bassens and Campagne Lévêque, two council estates in Marseille, where she was raised by her Algerian-born grandparents. She received a Certificat d'Aptitude Professionnelle (CAP), or professional certificate, as a secretary and accountant.

Career

Ghali became active in politics at the age of 16. She was elected to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Marseille in 2001. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, she was elected to the Senate for

. She held her seat until 2020, when she resigned upon her appointment as second Deputy Mayor of Marseille under Mayor

. Ghali also served as the 8th sector mayor of Marseille ( 15th and 16th arrondissements). In 2012, she suggested the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

should be sent to the neighbourhoods of Northern Marseille to put an end to drug-trafficking. In June 2015, her own chauffeur was arrested by police in a drug-trafficking raid in La Castellane."Samia Ghali, «stupéfaite» après l’arrestation de son chauffeur"
'' Libération'' (in French), 15 June 2015. She said she was "shocked" and "astounded". In the 2020 municipal election, Ghali ran for Mayor of Marseille, though the Socialist Party's official stance was to support the ''Printemps marseillais'' ("Marseille Spring") coalition headed by

Europe Ecology – The Greens Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merge ...

candidate

, the city's Socialist leader, accused Ghali of splitting the left-wing vote. Later that year, after Rubirola's resignation from the mayorship, Ghali's contingent of eight councillors voted in favour of First Deputy Mayor Payan becoming the new mayor. From 2004 to 2008, Ghali also held one of the vice-presidencies of the

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( French: ''Conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur'') is the deliberative assembly of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The regional council is made up of 123 regional c ...

under President Michel Vauzelle. Since 2021, she has been a member of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille-4."Départementales dans les Bouches-du-Rhône : Samia Ghali et Azad Kazandjian élus dans le canton Marseille 4"
'' La Provence'' (in French), 28 June 2021.

Personal life

Her second husband is Franck Dumontel, a political administrator. She has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghali, Samia 1968 births Living people Politicians from Marseille 21st-century French women politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic French people of Algerian-Berber descent Socialist Party (France) politicians Women members of the Senate (France) Senators of Bouches-du-Rhône Mayors of places in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French city councillors Regional councillors of France Departmental councillors (France)