Jean-Marie Le Pen devant la mairie d’Agde, au mois de septembre 1988. COLLECTION DENESTEBE
Décédé le mardi 7 janvier, l’un des fondateurs du Front national, dont les obsèques ont lieu samedi à La Trinité-sur-Mer, était venu à Agde à l’occasion de l’université d’été du parti.
While his daughter Marine Le Pen has visited Agde several times in recent years, notably to support the candidacy of the current MP for the 7th constituency of Hérault, Aurélien Liguori, that of Jean-Louis Cousin in the 2020 Agde municipal elections or to participate in the National Rally's summer university in September 2022, this was not the case for her father Jean-Marie, whose only visit dates back to 1988.
The statuette of the Ephebe: a rumor from Agde
Once again, it was as part of the summer university of what was still the National Front that Le Pen came to Hérault. A marquee had been erected in the grounds of the Cap d'Agde arenas to welcome the activists. Previously, the National Front leader had been welcomed in a republican manner in what was at the time the new town hall, in the grounds of the Mirabel barracks. Rumour has it that a statuette of the Ephebe had been given to him on this occasion, which does not seem to be the case, even if Agde activists assure us that it had pride of place in Jean-Marie Le Pen's office.
Applause and astonishment in the audience
What will remain in History, if one can say so, is the speech given by the leader of the FN that day. Another sally in a list that is far too full, addressed to the centrist Minister of the Civil Service at the time, Michel Durafour. “Mr. Durafour and Dumoulin, obscure Minister of Openness, in which he immediately disappeared, declared: “We must ally ourselves, in the municipal elections, including with the Communist Party, because the PC, itself, is losing strength while the extreme right continues to gain strength” ” , declared Le Pen into the microphone, alluding to a possible alliance between François Mitterrand and the communists. “Mr. Durafour crematorium, thank you for this confession!” , he launched in the process, to the applause of an audience in which, as a report from the Antenne 2 television news attests, some activists seemed visibly shocked by this deplorable outburst.
A pun in bad taste, which has long dogged the man who, after two presidential candidacies, in 1974 and 1988, would run three more times, in 1995, 2002, with the result we know, and 2007. In 1991, these remarks would earn Jean-Marie Le Pen a fine of 10,000 francs for public insult. A sentence that would be confirmed on appeal two years later.
Reactions to the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen
On social media, local RN personalities reacted to the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen. For Aurélien Lopez Liguori, MP for the 7th constituency, “the Menhir has left us. Sailor, soldier, tribune, he was a tireless defender of France. With him, a page of French and European political history is turning. Deprived of a father by the war, he remained a child of the people, the French people whom he defended with rare eloquence and immense culture."
The municipal councilor of Agde Fabienne Varesano, pays tribute to "a true fighter, a patriot, a fierce defender of France and its identity. A visionary ahead of his time, he was able to identify the major challenges facing our nation: mass immigration, the loss of our national sovereignty and the decline of our traditional values […] May his fight continue to inspire those who fight for a strong, proud and sovereign nation."
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