Arthur de Laborde with AFP // Photo credits: CATHERINE GUGELMANN / AFP
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7:10 p.m., February 13, 2024
The family of Robert Badinter does not wish the presence of elected officials from the National Rally and La France insoumise at the national tribute which will be paid on Wednesday to the former Minister of Justice, who died last week, we learned Tuesday from a source close to the matter.
The Élysée made this wish of Elisabeth Badinter, the widow of the father of the abolition of the death penalty, known to both parties, according to this source, confirming information from Le Figaro. Questioned by AFP, the RN affirmed that Marine Le Pen and the other invited elected officials from her party had decided not to go there, in accordance with the wishes of the family.
“We will not be present, the family did not want it,” says Le Pen
“We will not be present, the family did not wish it. I am not going to argue,” Marine Le Pen then declared, on the sidelines of a session at the National Assembly. Parliamentary leaders, regardless of party, are invited to national tributes in accordance with protocol.
The leaders of the far right stuck to the minimum service in their tributes to the memory of Robert Badinter, a figure long reviled for having abolished the death penalty. Marine Le Pen had hailed “a prominent figure in the intellectual and legal landscape”, while affirming that we “could not share all the struggles” of the former Minister of Justice.
On the contrary, rebellious officials had increased their praise. The leader of the radical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon again published an article on Monday in L’Obs to salute a figure who “permanently stuck to the altitude of the ideal”. A minute of silence was respected by the deputies on all benches Tuesday in the National Assembly. All the groups then applauded, some RN deputies abstaining.
Mélenchon regrets a national tribute “from which part of the French are excluded”
But Mélenchon regretted on Tuesday that the national tribute which will be paid to Robert Badinter will become a ceremony “from which part of the French are excluded”, after the desire expressed by the family not to invite La France insoumise and the National Rally.
“Badinter: a national tribute from which a part of the French are excluded is no longer a national tribute. The Republic is one and indivisible”, wrote on movement gave up going there. La France insoumise announces that it will be represented by two deputies. La France insoumise will be represented by Eric Coquerel and Caroline Fiat.