Co-founder of France’s main postwar far-right movement Jean-Marie died on Tuesday at the age of 96. Le Pen, co-founder of the National Front (FN), sowed division throughout the country even after his death as the government slammed nationwide celebrations of his passing.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau asserted that nothing justified the celebrations of death of—even if he was a political opponent. Socialist MP Jerome Guedj, on the other hand, wrote that while wrong to rejoice at the death, it would also be wrong to sugarcoat Le Pen’s career.
Leader of the hard-left France Unbowed’s MPs in the European Parliament, Manon Aubry, alluded to the debate surrounding truth and memory. Arguing that respect for the deceased should not lead to blindness, he underscored that Le Pen was widely understood to harbor racist and anti-Semitic sentiment.
A family funeral for Le Pen is to be held on Saturday in his hometown of La Trinite-sur-Mer in Brittany.
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