Controversy In France Over Celebrations Marking Le Pen Death
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published January 08, 2025 | 04:00 PM
Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Jan, 2025) The co-founder of France's main postwar far-right movement Jean-Marie Le Pen divided the country even beyond the grave on Wednesday, with the government slamming celebrations that erupted nationwide after his death.
Le Pen, co-founder of the National Front (FN) died on Tuesday aged 96, leaving a legacy which the French presidency said would be judged by history. The right praised his contribution to politics but the left praised the demonstrations and branded him a "fascist".
In the hours after his death, hundreds of people took to the streets in cities across France to celebrate his demise, singing, letting off fireworks and making toasts with champagne.
Jubilant opponents of Le Pen cheered as they gathered in Place de la Republique in central Paris for what they dubbed an "apero giant" (giant aperitif), brandishing placards including "the dirty racist is dead" and "a beautiful day".
"Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies dancing on a corpse. The death of a man, even if he is a political opponent, should inspire only restraint and dignity," Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X.
"These scenes of jubilation are simply shameful," he added.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu told Europe 1 radio: "The political struggle is for the living, so we must continue with the living but respect the dead. It is a question of dignity."
In the southeastern city of Lyon, seven people were arrested after a rally called by the hard-left where rubbish bins were burned and projectiles were thrown at the police. Some 600 people took part in the celebration.
But the leader of MPs from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) in parliament, Mathilde Panot, said the demonstrations echoed the "spirt of Charlie".
Le Pen's death coincided with the 10th anniversary of the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper by Islamist attackers that shocked the country and led to fierce debate about freedom of expression and religion.
The far-right-winger was an "enemy of the Republic", Panot told RTL radio.
