It was in the garden of Villa Thiole in Nice that the tribute ceremony for Charles Pasqua took place last night. A moment of reflection during which the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, and the crowd paid homage to the politician who passed away on June 29.
As the people of Nice gathered in front of the Lorraine Cross in the garden, it quickly became evident that Charles Pasqua embodied a political figure from another era.
The young attendees were scarce among the hundred present. “I brought them for their political education,” explained a mother. Among the crowd were members of the National Union of Paratroopers (UNP) and Colonel Richard Lazarowicz. He and the few paratroopers who accompanied him came to honor “the resistant who held out throughout the conflict from 1940,” when Charles Pasqua joined the resistance.
It is precisely for this act of bravery that the procession takes place in front of the Lorraine Cross, a symbol of the Resistance, where a plaque of General de Gaulle is displayed.
An example for all…
Ludovic, a member of the UNP, hails the man he considers “the most Gaullist of all politicians,” and “the most loyal,” as Elisabeth even suggests. A former parliamentary assistant to a President of the Companions of the Liberation close to Mr. Pasqua, she does not deny the deceased’s troubled past. She thinks that “politicians all get involved in dealings,” but she mainly remembers the image of a “big mouth and a great resistant.”
… Particularly for Christian Estrosi
When the ceremony begins, conversations fade to give way to the trumpeters. Voices rise to accompany the tunes of the Marseillaise and the Song of the Partisans, sung during the Resistance against Nazi occupation.
With a grave voice and expression, the Mayor of Nice praises the man who was “the first to give me faith to engage for my country.” “With the death of Charles Pasqua, it’s more than a page turning, it’s a book closing,” even declares Mr. Estrosi. After about 25 minutes, the end of the ceremony does not necessarily mean the end of the homage: a street will soon bear the name of Charles Pasqua.
