In the words he addressed to her at the end of his funeral mass, François Bayrou underlined
“the stubborn refusal to expose himself”
of Marielle de Sarnez, who died last Wednesday.
Rarely has a politician in fact fled so much the vanity of honors, preferring the hidden delights of influence.
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Marielle de Sarnez, the fighter of the center
There was therefore a form of affectionate irony to see the deputy for Paris surrounded by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, his predecessor, Édouard Philippe, who had called her to the government in 2017, the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, or the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and so many parliamentarians in the nave filled to the narthex of Saint-Sulpice, the largest church in the capital, grazing the territory of the constituency from which she was elected.
Irrefutable loyalty
And behind these most famous officials, ministers, parliamentarians, centrist leaders, and, of course, her family, her two children, her five grandchildren, lighting the candles framing her coffin, her former husband, her relatives…: so many
" tribes ”
according to another word from Bayrou, which she had aggregated over the decades, united in an irrefutable loyalty.
"Everywhere she went, tribes sprang up"
, recalled the president of the Modem, his voice broken with sorrow, which warmed to her
"formidable maternal power"
, reserved for those who did not stop at
"the harshness of appearances. "
.
Read also:
Immense emotion in the political world after the death of Marielle de Sarnez
The last time Saint-Sulpice knew such an influx of politicians and a presidential presence, it was for the funeral of Jacques Chirac, on September 30, 2019. For the former head of state, the rite of the offertory had been accompanied by Daniel Barenboïm's piano.
For Marielle de Sarnez, it was through that of Jean-Philippe Collard, a friend of the UDF years, who interpreted a Bach chorale more in line with the celebration than the impromptu of Schubert of the time.
If the words spoken, by her children and then by Bayrou, were above all to underline the personal qualities of Marielle de Sarnez, the High Commissioner for Planning, whose career is inseparable from this long political companionship, spoke of their fight
"at the search for this center that we said could not be found but that we were sure to find ”
and of which he made
“ one of the most beautiful adventures of the Fifth Republic ”
.
Speaking of this modest believer, Bayrou concluded:
“the sky was her limit;
the sky is now his domain ”
.