Jenny Dulys-Petit: Female mayor in Martinique
Jenny Dulys was born in 1953. Passionate about the choir, she joined the choir of Notre Dame de la Délivrance at the age of 12. In 1974, she was appointed choir director. She was also president of the Auberge de Jeunesse (Youth Hostel), first of all the overseas departments at the time, and secretary of the rural family house, first of Martinique. Since 1992, she has been the Director of Notre Dame de la Délivrance primary school in Morne-Rouge.
She was elected on the list led by Pierre Petit as 7th Deputy Mayor of Morne-Rouge in 1983. When he was re-elected six years later, he appointed her First Deputy. She was also elected as a Regional Councilor in 1992 and a General Councilor in 1993. She is also a member of "Osons doser" (local political party) and the Union for the Presidential Majority.
On March 9, 2008, Jenny Dulys was supported by Pierre Petit, the former mayor, who decided to pass the torch to the municipal elections to his first assistant. She was elected Mayor of Morne-Rouge in the first round with 1,760 votes or 62.54% of the votes cast. She was re-elected in 2014 and 2020. She is currently one of the only 3 women mayors of Martinique out of 34 municipalities!
On Saturday, January 10, 2009, Jenny Dulys married the former Mayor of Morne-Rouge, Pierre Petit, aged 79. She was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (French medal) in August 2013. According to her, her life can be summed up in her Christian, social, associative, and political commitments.
Josette Manin: First woman Deputy of Martinique for the National Assembly
Josette Manin was born in 1950 in Lamentin. She is a Martinican woman politician. She is a retired bank executive. She is a member of “Bâtir le pays Martinique”, a left-wing Martinique party founded in 1998 by Pierre Samot, mayor of Lamentin.
In 1983, she joined the Martinican Communist Party and became a communist activist with Georges Gratiant, a great figure in Martinican political life. It was the same year that Josette Manin began her political career during the municipal elections of 1983. Indeed, she was elected for the first time, municipal councilor on the list of the mayor, Georges Gratiant.
In 1995, it appeared on the list "Lamentin Horizon 2001 - development, solidarity, justice" of the outgoing mayor, Pierre Samot. Josette Manin had been re-elected municipal councilor. In the 2001 municipal elections, she was again re-elected municipal councilor and this time became deputy mayor. During the municipal elections of March 2008, Josette Manin appeared in an eligible position on the list entitled "Le Lamentin passionément" of the outgoing mayor, Pierre Samot. She was elected 2nd deputy mayor of Lamentin at the end of the ballot.
In the cantonal elections of 2001, she was elected for the first time general councilor of the canton of Lamentin-3-Est. She was re-elected during the 2008 cantonal elections.
In 1998, Josette Manin left the Martinican Communist Party and joined Pierre Samot's Bâtir le pays Martinique, following the split with the Martinican Communist Party. Josette Manin was chosen in March 2011 to be the candidate for the presidency of the opposition group entitled "Ensemble, pour une Martinique nouvelle", made up of elected representatives of the Parti Progressiste Martiniquais, of Bâtir le pays Martinique, the Mouvement Populaire Franciscain, the Fédération Socialiste de la Martinique, of Mouvement « Vivre à Schoelcher », and of Osons oser.
She was elected on March 31, 2011, in the 3rd round, President of the General Council of Martinique by 23 votes against 22 for Alfred Sinosa, a candidate from the group of outgoing President Claude Lise. She is the second woman to chair a general council in the French West Indies, one of the five presidents in France in 2011, and finally the eleventh in history. She is also a member of the Communauté d'agglomération du Centre de la Martinique (CACEM) meaning community council of the Agglomeration Community of Central Martinique.
She was the last President of the Council since Martinique was endowed with a Unique Collectivity (merger of the General and Regional Council) in December 2015. Josette Manin is now a Member of the National Assembly for Martinique. In 2017, she became the first woman elected as a member of the French parliament for Martinique. She served in the National Assembly until 2022.