On Tuesday, Jean-Louis Debré passed away at the age of 80, a prominent figure in French politics and close to former right-wing President Jacques Chirac. His family announced his death, as reported by Afp. Debré served as President of the National Assembly after Jacques Chirac's reelection in 2002, and later as head of the Constitutional Council (2007-2016), an institution that rules on the conformity of laws, among other duties.
The current President of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet (center-right), mourned the loss of an "enormous servant of the State." "He was a colorful and unique character, and also the heir of a great political family," reacted former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (right).
"His great value was his loyalty to his Gaullist ideals, to a certain idea of France, to Jacques Chirac. As a minister and President of the Constitutional Council, he knew how to cultivate the defense of freedoms with caustic humor," emphasized the President of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse (right).
Jean-Louis Debré was the son of Michel Debré, who led the group that drafted the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, a political regime still in force in France, and who was Charles De Gaulle's first Prime Minister in 1959.
Former President François Hollande recently described him as a "loyal, republican, and free man." The two politicians had fought fiercely for a long time before developing mutual respect.
Initially a magistrate, then a deputy, Jean-Louis Debré served as Minister of the Interior from 1995 to 1997. He had to face a series of Islamist attacks during the summer of 1995 and became the bane of the left and cartoonists after the forced expulsion in 1996 of hundreds of undocumented immigrants occupying a church in Paris.
However, after 2002, a radical change occurred: in his privileged position, the left discovered "a true republican," an "original personality," "non-sectarian," who "defends the rights of the opposition," much to the dismay of the right, according to Jean-Marc Ayrault, then head of the PS deputies.
An author of political books and detective novels, familiar with theatrical settings, Jean-Louis Debré served as a deputy for Eure in northwestern France for over twenty years.