Paris (AFP)

The announcement of the death on Wednesday of former minister Marielle de Sarnez, right-hand man of François Bayrou for decades, immediately sparked a shower of tributes from her peers, from all sides, who greeted a "courageous" politician and "respectful".

"Tireless craftswoman of the center, passionate fighter for Europe, Marielle de Sarnez left us this evening. France is losing a highly talented political leader. We are losing a friend", paid tribute to President Emmanuel Macron.

The centrist MP, president of the Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, died Wednesday at the age of 69, at the Parisian hospital of Pitié-Salpêtrière.

She was suffering from leukemia.

"Here is the day in excess. Marielle, so talented and so courageous, Marielle de Sarnez has just left. Our sorrow is immense", greeted on Twitter Mr. Bayrou, the boss of MoDem, who announced, very moved, the death of his right arm to AFP.

A minute of silence was observed in the National Assembly where a debate was held on the deployment of Maisons France Services.

"The National Assembly loses one of its eminent members, parliamentary diplomacy a great representative", reacted its president, Richard Ferrand, expressing his "immense sadness".

"It is from loyalty to her commitments that Marielle de Sarnez drew her strength to modernize our democracy and defend a certain idea of ​​Europe. Her struggles will also remain ours more than ever", underlined the Prime Minister, Jean Castex. , joined in the tribute by many ministers but also by political opponents.

Born in Paris in the 8th arrondissement, Marielle de Sarnez had spent a large part of her career there.

President of the UDF Paris federation in 2006 and then of the MoDem Paris in 2008, she was elected Paris councilor in 2001 in the 14th arrondissement on an RPR-UDF union list.

This convinced European was then elected MEP in 2009.

His appointment in May 2017 in the first government of Edouard Philippe as Minister of European Affairs should have been the crown of his career.

But she will only stay for a month and four days.

The opening in the following June of a preliminary investigation by the public prosecutor's office in the case of the alleged fictitious jobs of the assistants of the MEPs of the centrist party led her to resign, just like François Bayrou, ephemeral Minister of Justice.

Invested in the wake of the legislative elections by LREM, she had been elected Member of Parliament for Paris (11th constituency) and had taken over the presidency of the prestigious Foreign Affairs Committee of the Assembly.

- From Mélenchon to Le Pen -

On the announcement of her death, many political figures from all sides paid tribute to her, in particular members of the government: "A woman of the head and a woman of heart, activist in European construction, Marielle de Sarnez has just left and she is already missing ", argued the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, while his successor to the portfolio of European Affairs, Clément Beaune, hailed" a committed of Europe, a woman of immense courage ".

But it was also Marielle de Sarnez's political opponents who hailed her memory: "Great sadness: Marielle de Sarnez is withdrawn from us. Honor to an exemplary adversary of loyalty, respect for others and creativity. The service of the country loses a useful discreet influence, "reacted LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, recalled that Ms. de Sarnez" had the respect of all in the National Assembly ".

Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally, also recognized "a shock for all".

"Beyond our political differences, she was an invested committee chairperson, respectful and attentive to all deputies," she said.

The one who began her militant life in 1974 to support the candidacy of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1974 also received homage from Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Prime Minister: "Marielle de Sarnez was our sister in Giscardism. intelligence, she was a woman of convictions, at ease in political complexity. Her assertive character in no way weakened a warm generosity. Marielle had happy friendship. Profonde Sorrow. "

© 2021 AFP