News of the death of French right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen has led to spontaneous celebrations on the streets in several cities in France. Many demonstrations of joy degenerated. Arrests also took place.
The executive branch announced on Wednesday that there were three arrests in Paris and seven in Lyon. Several hundred people gathered in both cities and also in Marseille on Tuesday to celebrate Le Pen’s death. Fireworks were set off and garbage bins were set on fire. The small left-wing party Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste, among others, had called for a meeting on the Place de la Republique in the center of the capital via social media. The invitation featured a smiley face wearing a party hat (see below).
“What a beautiful day”
There, the participants toasted each other and held up banners with the text ‘What a beautiful day’ or ‘The dirty racist is dead’. The question was asked loudly several times: “Where is he?” To which the crowd replied, “In hell!” He has caused so much damage to the country. Even though I was not born here, I think it is important to be here,” a left-wing activist told AFP.
Macron with a short response
Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau reacted with horror to the festivities. “Nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies dancing on a corpse,” the conservative politician posted on the short-messaging platform X (see above). President Emmanuel Macron responded to the death of the 96-year-old founder of the National Front with a short statement: “As a historical figure of the far right, he played a role in the public life of our country for almost seventy years. now subject to the judgment of history.” He expressed his condolences to the relatives. Prime Minister François Bayrou called Le Pen a “figure of French political life.” “When you fought him, you knew what kind of fighter he was.”
Difficult relationship between father and daughter
According to media reports, daughter Marine Le Pen learned of her father’s death while returning from the overseas territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. She said goodbye to the fisherman’s son from Brittany with a sentence common in French maritime navigation: “A venerable age had taken away the warrior, but had given us back our father. “Good wind, good sea, daddy,” the 56-year-old also wrote on X.
The relationship between the right-wing leadership icon and her father had been difficult for years. Marine Le Pen, who took over the party, wanted to ‘de-diabolize’ it and make it eligible to the middle of society. For this she broke politically with her father, who was eventually expelled from the party. The National Front called itself Rassemblement National.
Source: Krone
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