Valéry Giscard d’Estaing had not wished for a national tribute, unlike that which had been organized for former President Jacques Chirac in September 2019. In agreement with his family, Emmanuel Macron decreed a day of national mourning in the honor of this “central figure in the history of our Republic”, hailed by all as a modernizer and a convinced European. He will receive his family at the Elysee Palace in the afternoon.
Previously, a minute of silence will be organized at 12 noon in several institutions and the flags of official buildings will be half mast.
VGE who ruled France from 1974 to 1981 died at the age of 94 on December 2 as a result of Covid-19. He was buried on his property in Authon, a small village in Loir-et-Cher, on Saturday in the strictest family privacy.
VIDEO. Death of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing: 5 moments that marked his political life
If condolence registers are opened all over France at the initiative of mayors and prefects, during the day, the family of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing will also go to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, created in 1977 in the initiative of the former president and currently closed due to Covid-19.
The museum will be exceptionally open and a Guestbook will be made available. The president’s family will meet with Prime Minister Jean Castex, who will discuss with them. Members of the government, the presidents of the two chambers, Richard Ferrand for the Assembly, and Gérard Larcher for the Senate, as well as the President of the Constitutional Council Laurent Fabius are also expected at the museum.
Several politicians have called for the Musée d’Orsay to be named Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
This day will also be for teachers who wish to devote a moment to evoke the memory of Giscard.
In addition, the office of the National Assembly should for its part propose that a “commemorative plaque” affixed in the hemicycle, like the one unveiled on September 23 for former President Jacques Chirac.
“It was not always understood”
The deputies have already paid tribute on Tuesday to the former head of state, observing a minute of silence in the hemicycle. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was deputy for Puy-de-Dôme on numerous occasions between 1956 and 2002. Joining the “tribute” to parliamentarians, Prime Minister Jean Castex insisted on his “European commitment” and recalled that ‘in this regard “it was not always understood” in the Assembly. He also spoke of his “essential reforms” which “shifted the lines of our society. “
VIDEO. When Valéry Giscard d’Estaing defended himself from being “someone cold”
Other tributes are planned in particular in Chamalières, historical stronghold of VGE, of which he was mayor and whose current mayor is his son Louis.
Hospitalized several times in recent months, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing had made one of his last public appearances during the funeral of Jacques Chirac who was his Prime Minister and then his successor. Despite the notorious differences between the two men, Jacques Chirac’s widow, Bernadette, wrote a letter of condolence to Anne-Aymone Giscard d’Estaing.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
