One year to the day after the death of the former President of the Republic Jacques Chirac, his daughter Claude, who was also a communication advisor to him, was the guest of Ruth Elkrief on BFMTV for a big interview which took place. held at the Quai-Branly - Jacques Chirac museum.
To read also: Alain Juppé: "Chirac, a certain nobility of political commitment"
"The French took a long time to love it"
During this exchange, Claude Chirac notably returned to the personality of the one who was notably mayor of Paris, prime minister and then President of the Republic.
“Jacques Chirac was a very complex man and the French took a long time to get to know and love him.
In any case, he loved them infinitely, ”
she said.
"He could be a little confusing, even disturbing at times",
she estimated, then, from the presidential election of 1995
, "he became fully himself",
and then
"the French put themselves to better weave this link with him ”.
The scarcity of Jacques Chirac's words in the media
About the scarcity of Jacques Chirac's speech in the media, his daughter assured that the former President was
"an extremely reserved man
", who
"was not at all narcissistic".
To read also: The tenacity of Chirac, the judgment of the French and the missions of Castex: the indiscretions of
Figaro Magazine
Preserve the dignity of his father at the end of his life
Asked about his desire to preserve the image of the former head of state at the end of his life, Claude Chirac corrected:
“It was not a question of image, it was a question of human dignity ".
“(…) Even through this weakening, this fragility into which he had entered, he still had a look, a sense of dignity which was even astounding”.
Bernadette Chirac is doing "as well as possible"
Her mother, Bernadette Chirac, is doing "as well as she
can"
and was
"happy to be back in her land in Corrèze and her house"
during the month of August.
A political commitment in Corrèze?
Asked about her own political future, while ministerial positions would have been blown to her, Claude Chirac confided that she was thinking rather
of "a commitment for Corrèze"
, former electoral stronghold of Jacques Chirac and where he came, as a child, to pass. his holidays.
“I would be very happy to get involved in Corrèze (…) I'm still thinking about it (…) If I can be useful, I will go 1000%”,
Corrèze being
“the land that makes the most sense for me »
, She again confided.
To read also: "Would you have glasses at the Chirac?"
The conviction in 2011 on the fictitious jobs case
"It was a test and a terrible injury"
for Jacques Chirac, confided his daughter, to comment on the conviction of her father in 2011 for the case of fictitious jobs at the town hall of Paris, before recalling that he
"s not 'did not act in any way for personal enrichment'
but for the financing of political parties.
Citing a particular political "era" for political figures on the left as well as on the right, Claude Chirac added that the latter had
"assumed their responsibilities and this is the minimum".
A "total humanist"
Questioned on the changing opinions of her father in politics, on liberalism, Europe or even ecology, Claude Chirac wanted to defend several positions that she considered courageous:
"It will still have taken some strength of character and independence, while her party was (...) mostly against, to impose the choice of Maastritch "
, she underlined, before also quoting her
" vote against the death penalty "
or again the
“Vél 'd'Hiv speech”
.
“You cannot understand Jacques Chirac without understanding that he was a total humanist (...). All the battles he has led are linked to the conception he had of man, of his equal dignity, ”
she continued, also citing his commitment to disability.
Read also: Claude, the watchman of the Chirac clan
The second round of 2002 and Jean-Marie Le Pen
Returning to the second round of the 2002 presidential election, where his father had to face the president of the National Front Jean-Marie Le Pen, Claude Chirac recounted this anecdote:
“Some people (…) had a somewhat inappropriate reaction of joy (…) Spontaneously, they say to themselves: 'If it's Jean-Marie Le Pen, it's over, it's won'.
There, I saw a face of extreme gravity on (…) Jacques Chirac, who criticized them in an extremely harsh manner.
"A way of emphasizing that
" the fight against the extreme right in France "
was also
" one of the fights of his life ".
The rejection of a national government and the dangers of "confusion" between left and right
Asked about the refusal, after the election of Jacques Chirac to the presidential election in 2002, to form a national government, while many left-wing figures had called to vote for him, his daughter confided that he had
"really thought about this subject ”
but finally considered that we needed
“ a left and a right to talk about France ”.
As France came out of five years of cohabitation, Jacques Chirac considered
"that this would be a great danger in the long term"
, because
"the confusion is the bearer of a weakening of democratic and republican forces, in favor of extremisms",
a- she explained.
Read also: Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to Jacques Chirac, dead for a year
The daughter of Jacques Chirac then took the opportunity to make this veiled criticism of the government of Emmanuel Macron, a great supporter of "at the same time", at a time of a weakening of the political parties of the left and the right:
"I think that he was right and we can clearly see that today, confusion is the bearer of a lot of excesses ”.
On the political heritage of Jacques Chirac and the future of the right
"There is no successor to Jacques Chirac, there is no heir to Jacques Chirac,"
said Claude Chirac, finally questioned about his father's political legacy, before hurrying to add that she hoped to see a solid candidate emerging in the future
"from the republican right, otherwise it would be the collapse of the French democratic system".
