Paris (AFP)

The presence of Marine Le Pen on Monday at the ceremony of homage to Jacques Chirac, in the Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, is stirring while the father of the President of the National Rally (RN) had made the former president an enemy".

According to a source close to the family, the Chirac clan learned Saturday by the press this coming he does not want, but that is right.

A 1989 decree on public ceremonies sets out the list of bodies and authorities that may be invited. The deputies are part of it, but Marine Le Pen is a member of the Pas-de-Calais.

"There is no official invitation" but "the respect of the republican spirit is that in death we are no longer in the political conflict, in the political protest, we are in the tribute ", repeated Sunday Marine Le Pen on the program" Dimanche En Politique "on France 3.

The Minister of Public Accounts Gérald Darmanin (ex-LR) was moved by this presence: "I think that President Jacques Chirac was without any kind of doubt possible a great enemy of the Le Pen family and that it is a beautiful legacy that we must continue to put in place, "he said at the Grand rendez-vous Europe 1-CNews-Les Echos, however refusing to condemn the participation of Marine Le Pen.

"Mrs. Le Pen is elected of the Nation, personally I regret it, I fight (but) I have no opinion" on his coming Monday at the service chaired by Emmanuel Macron in the Saint-Sulpice Church, said The Minister.

Asked about the words of Mr. Darmanin, the far-right leader said that "there is a lack of Republican spirit and perhaps of soul."

His father Jean-Marie Le Pen was the opponent of Jacques Chirac in the second round of the presidential election in 2002. Marine Le Pen succeeded him at the head of the National Front (FN) in 2011.

Jacques Chirac, who has always refused any agreement with the extreme right, refused to debate with the president of the FN before the second round, declaring that there was "no debate possible" against "intolerance and hate ".

For two weeks, between the two rounds, millions of people marched against racism. On the evening of the second round, Jacques Chirac was easily reelected.

Unlike her father, Marine Le Pen has "never had a personal relationship" with Jacques Chirac who "pushed to consider him as an enemy," she also argued Sunday.

© 2019 AFP