Brigitte Boccone-Pagès becomes first female President of the National Council

The former vice-president of the National Council is set on continuity.

Following the resignation of the President of the National Council Stéphane Valeri on 28 September, Vice-President Brigitte Boccone-Pagès was elected President of the Assembly of Monegasque Elected Representatives yesterday evening, Thursday 6 October. She is the first woman to hold the position in the history of the 111-year-old institution.

Advertising »

“I am aware of the symbolic nature of this election. It will, I hope, inspire all the young women watching us to follow their dreams”, she commented in her inaugural speech. This election adds Monaco to a very short list of countries whose Assembly is presided over by a woman (in 2020, out of 190 parliaments in the world, only 58 women held this position according to the UN).

All 22 national councillors present in the Chamber voted unanimously for Brigitte Boccone-Pagès to succeed Stéphane Valeri. The former incumbent resigned from the presidency of the National Council to take up the reins of the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) in April 2023, replacing the current CEO, Jean-Luc Biamonti.

Balthazar Seydoux, who until now has been Chairman of the Committee on Finance and National Economy, was unanimously elected by his colleagues to the post of Vice-President.

Continuity as a compass

While she states that she will take on her new role with “humility and determination”, Brigitte Boccone-Pagès does not foresee any major changes, indicating that her election is a continuance of her predecessor’s course of action. “We will follow the roadmap of the commitments we made to Monegasques in 2018 and throughout this term of office”.

The new President of the National Council referred in particular to housing for Monegasques:

“This issue extends far beyond the confines of our Chamber, as it is of legitimate concern to all Monegasques whose situation warrants it, who expect to be well housed in their own country. Thanks to the extensive programme of state housing deliveries announced in 2019, the first objective, which was to reduce the shortage of recent years, will be achieved in 2023. However, dealing with that critical situation was only the first part of the equation, as we know that enough new housing must be built every year to avoid a new shortage. To date, we are not in a position to provide for the future, and we will revisit this in the course of our budgetary discussions. On this crucial subject, seamless continuity is obviously my compass.”

SEE ALSO: Have your say: What Monegasques think about housing in the Principality”

The next national elections will take place in February 2023.