Joachim Son-Forget

Joachim Jean-Marie Forget (born 15 April 1983),[1] known as Joachim Son-Forget (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɔakim sɔn fɔʁʒɛ]),[2] is a South Korean-born, French politician. Since 2017, he has been a member of the National Assembly, representing the sixth constituency for French residents overseas (Switzerland and Liechtenstein).[3]

Joachim Son-Forget
Member of the National Assembly
for the 6th constituency for French residents overseas
Assumed office
21 June 2017
Preceded byClaudine Schmid
Personal details
Born (1983-04-15) 15 April 1983
Seoul, South Korea
Political partySocialist Party (until 2014)
La République En Marche! (2017–2018)
Valeur Absolue (since 2019)
Children2
ProfessionRadiologist

Adopted by a French family as a child, Son-Forget, who holds a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience, was previously active within the Socialist Party (PS) and later La République En Marche! (REM) until he resigned from the party in late 2018; he has since founded his own political party, Valeur Absolue (formerly Je suis français et européen). He works part-time as a radiologist in Switzerland and has held Kosovar citizenship since 2018.[4]

Biography

Early life

Born in South Korea, Joachim Son-Forget was adopted by a French family as a child and grew up in Langres, before studying in Dijon, Paris and Lausanne.[5]

In 2005, he received a Master 2 in cognitive science from CogMaster (co-accredited by Paris Descartes University, EHESS and ENS Ulm) with cognitive psychologist Stanislas Dehaene. In 2008 he graduated at the end of the second cycle (Master 2) of medical studies at the University of Burgundy. In 2015, he obtained a doctorate MD-PhD in medicine and cognitive neuroscience. The subject of his thesis was "Visuo-vestibular mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness".[1]

Political career

He supported Socialist candidate François Hollande during the 2012 French presidential election. He was secretary of the Geneva section of the French Socialist Party within the Federation of French Abroad, and chairman of the committee of activists of the Party of European Socialists in Switzerland, before taking leave in 2014.[6] In 2017, he joined then-presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's political movement, En Marche! (LaREM)

Member of the National Assembly
Son-Forget in 2017

Son-Forget was the REM candidate in the 2017 French legislative election for the sixth constituency for French residents overseas, which covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In the first round, he obtained 63.55% of valid votes, far ahead of his main opponent, then-incumbent Republican candidate Claudine Schmid who got 15.76%. However, the rules of the French electoral system did not secure a first-round victory for Son-Forget as the turnout was only 20.19%. Therefore, a second round was held, opposing only Joachim Son-Forget and Claudine Schmid: it was won by Son-Forget with 74.94% of valid votes, while the turnout was even lower than the first round, with 18.78%.[7] Son-Forget was one of 10 successful candidates for overseas constituencies from either LaREM or its ally the Democratic Movement (MoDem), over 11 overseas constituencies in total.[8][9]

As a member of the National Assembly, he sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee and serves as president of the France-South Korea Friendship Group[10] and vice-president of the France-Kosovo Friendship Group.[11] With La France Insoumise (LFI) member Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he co-wrote a report on France's strategy on seas and oceans.[12]

When Christophe Castaner was appointed Minister of the Interior in October 2018, Joachim Son-Forget declared himself a candidate to succeed him as Executive Officer of La République En Marche!, opposing fellow LaREM Member of Parliament Stanislas Guerini, who was forecast as Castaner's likely successor.[13][14] The internal election was eventually held in November 2018. On 1 December 2018, Son-Forget lost the election to Guerini, with 18% of valid votes.[14]

On 29 December 2018, Son-Forget resigned from both the party La République En Marche! and its parliamentary group amidst controversy about his recent activity on social networks and an online spat with Green Senator Esther Benbassa.[15][16] Now an independent member of the National Assembly, Son-Forget declared he was still supporting President Macron.[16]

Logo of Je suis français et européen

On 31 December 2018, Son-Forget announced he would create his own political party, Je suis français et européen ("I am French and European") abbreviated as JSFee.[note 1][18] The party was renamed in July 2019 as Valeur Absolue (which translates to "absolute value").[19][20]

In January 2019, Son-Forget joined center-right parliamentary group UDI, Agir and Independents.[21][22] He resigned from the group in December 2019, following controversy about a Twitter post showing him in the company of Marion Maréchal, member of French nationalist party National Rally.[23][24]

In February 2020, Son-Forget attempted to have Alexandre Benalla (former deputy chief of staff to Emmanuel Macron) hired as his parliamentary assistant, but his application was rejected.[25] A few days later, invited on the set of talk show Touche pas à mon poste !, Son-Forget announced he would run for the 2022 French presidential election, claiming he had support from Benalla.[26]

Controversies

During an interview in June 2017, Son-Forget was asked to comment on the controversy surrounding the past use of public funds by Richard Ferrand, then a candidate to preside the REM parliamentary group. After discoursing on the difference between what is legal and what is moral, Son-Forget declared: "I believe we should not have a return to morality, as that would be the beginning of Sharia law."[27] before immediately apologising for "using big words".[27] These comments by Son-Forget, who had just been elected a member of the National Assembly, drew attention from the French press.[27][28][29]

In September 2018, while travelling funfair personality and entrepreneur Marcel Campion was under controversy for remarks that were considered homophobic, Son-Forget defended Campion on Twitter, arguing his speech was not homophobic. Son-Forget was in turn criticised by other politicians for defending Campion.[30]

On 23 December 2018, on his Twitter account, Son-Forget called out Green Senator Esther Benbassa after she criticised remarks by Brigitte Macron (wife of President Emmanuel Macron) on the yellow vests movement; additionally, Son-Forget made derogatory comments about Benbassa's makeup habits and later addressed "haters" in an informal tone.[16][31] His online behaviour was criticised by fellow members of REM; Executive Officer Stanislas Guerini announced the party would issue him a "warning letter".[32] Son-Forget, who stated it was his intent to go viral on social media using "cognitive psychology",[16] refused to apologise.[15][33] After LaREM announced they would examine his "case", Son-Forget declared he was resigning from the party, thus becoming an independent Member of Parliament.[15]

In December 2019, Son-Forget published on his Twitter account a picture of himself in the company of Marion Maréchal, former Member of Parliament and member of French nationalist party National Rally, in what he described as "teasing". This statement was criticized by Jean-Christophe Lagarde, President of parliamentary group UDI, Agir and Independents of which Son-Forget had become a member, who cited "incompatibility" between the core values of his group and those of the National Rally. Son-Forget then resigned from his parliamentary group.[23]

In January 2021, Twitter suspended Son-Forget's account after he pretended to be U.S. President Donald Trump following Trump's own permanent account suspension by Twitter.[34]

Personal life

Divorced from his first wife, he married his second wife, a Korean, in 2014;[35] he says this is when he began publicly adding his wife's surname, "Son", to his own.[2] He has one daughter.[35]

Son-Forget has reportedly been passionate about Kosovo since he was a teenager;[36] he lived there for some time in his late twenties, and has befriended Qëndrim Gashi, who is currently Ambassador of Kosovo to France.[35] A Vice-President of the France-Kosovo relations group in the French National Assembly,[11] he was personally awarded Kosovar citizenship by President Hashim Thaçi in 2018.[4][35]

Aside from his political and medical career, Son-Forget plays the harpsichord[37] and practices long range shooting in his spare time.[36] He has practiced various martial arts, including karate.[36]

References

Notes
  1. The abbreviation capitalizes "JSF", which stands for both je suis français (I am French) and the initials of his own name.[17]

Citations
  1. Forget, Joachim. "Visuo-vestibular mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness". École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. Martrette-Gomez, Bruno (17 October 2017). "La Consult' de Joachim Son-Forget #18". www.whatsupdoc-lemag.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. "M. Joachim Son-Forget". National Assembly (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  4. "Un député LREM né à Séoul et représentant les Français de Suisse devient... Kosovar" (in French). AFP via France 24. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  5. "Joachim Son-Forget élu par les Français de Suisse". La Tribune de Genève (in French). 2017-06-19. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. Solenn de Royer (2014-10-05). "Ces militants PS qui ne veulent plus de Hollande en 2017" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. "2017 French legislative election results". interieur.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  8. "Législatives françaises: 10 macronistes sur 11 élus des Français de l'étranger". Radio France International. June 19, 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  9. "Joachim Son-Forget élu par les Français de Suisse". 24Heures, 24heures, VQH (in French). 2017-06-19. ISSN 1424-4039. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  10. "Composition du groupe d'amitié France-Corée du Sud". National Assembly (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  11. "Composition du groupe d'amitié France-Kosovo". National Assembly (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  12. "Mission d'information sur les mers et océans : quelle stratégie pour la France ?". National Assembly (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  13. Vandekerkhove, Charlie (16 November 2018). "Stanislas Guerini et Joachim Son-Forget candidats officiels pour prendre la tête de LaREM". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  14. Lemarié, Alexandre (1 December 2018). "Le député Stanislas Guerini élu à la tête de La République en marche". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  15. "Le député Joachim Son-Forget, auteur de dérapages sur Twitter, quitte La République en marche". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  16. "Le groupe LREM se désolidarise de Joachim Son-Forget après ses tweets sexistes" (in French). Le Point. 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  17. Schmitt, Camille (2 January 2019). "Joachim Son-Forget : l'ex-député REM fonde son parti politique". RTL (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  18. Pétreault, Clément (31 December 2018). "Joachim Son-Forget : Le " roi des trolls " fonde son parti politique". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  19. Announcement n. 1689 for the creation of political association Valeur Absolue (in French) on the Journal Officiel (20 July 2019).
  20. de Villaines, Astrid (14 February 2020). "Le virage trash de Joachim Son-Forget, le député qui a relayé la vidéo de Griveaux". Le HuffPost (in French). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  21. Focraud, Arnaud (15 January 2019). "Joachim Son-Forget rejoint le groupe UDI : "Il ne mérite pas l'ostracisme", défend Jean-Christophe Lagarde". Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  22. Ducros, Christine (15 January 2019). "Le député provocateur Joachim Son-Forget rejoint l'UDI en promettant de s'amender". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  23. N.Be. (19 December 2019). "Le député UDI Joachim Son-Forget, ex-LREM, quitte son groupe et se rapproche de Marion Maréchal". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  24. "Politique. Le député Joachim Son-Forget quitte le groupe UDI et s'affiche avec Marion Maréchal". Ouest-France (in French). 18 December 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  25. "L'Assemblée interdit à Benalla de devenir l'assistant parlementaire du député Son-Forget". L'Express (in French). 11 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  26. "" TPMP " : Joachim Son-Forget annonce sa candidature à la présidentielle de 2022". 20 minutes (in French). 13 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  27. Quinault-Maupoil, Tristan (22 June 2017). "Un député LREM opposé au "retour de la morale" car "c'est le début de la charia"". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  28. Fofana, Balla (22 June 2017). "Un député LREM évoque "le retour de la morale" comme "le début de la charia"". Libération (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  29. "Affaire Ferrand : "Un retour de la morale, c'est le début de la charia", juge ce député LREM". Marianne (in French). 22 June 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  30. Boisselier, Alexis (23 September 2018). "Les propos homophobes de Marcel Campion provoquent un malaise au sein d'En marche". Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  31. "Propos sexistes : Joachim Son-Forget recadré par le chef des députés LRM" (in French). Le Monde. 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  32. "" Pot de maquillage " : une lettre d'avertissement pour Joachim Son-Forget" (in French). Le Point. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  33. Philippe Lemoine [@phl43] (27 December 2018). "This French member of parliament, who is part of Macron's party, has been on some kind of acid trip for several days now and still hasn't come down off it and it's absolutely hilarious" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  34. "Twitter suspends French MP for impersonating Donald Trump". POLITICO. 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  35. Vaulerin, Arnaud (9 July 2018). "Joachim Son-Forget, corépublicain". Libération (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  36. Burel, Lucas (27 December 2018). "Karaté, tir au fusil, Kosovar... 7 choses à savoir sur le député Joachim Son-Forget". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  37. Christian Lecomte (2017-05-14). "Joachim Son-Forget, résilient de la République". Le Temps (in French). letemps.ch. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.