Bernard Pons, the progenitor of the Republicans and former minister and secretary-general of the RPR, died on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at the age of 95. He died at Aigues-Mortes (Gard), where he had been a resident for some years.
Bernard Pons, a general practitioner, began a long political career in the Lot in 1967, serving as deputy, secretary of state, and minister in numerous right-wing governments.
From 1981 until 2002, “Dr. Pons” had served as a deputy in Essonne and later in Paris. In 1983, Jacques Chirac elected him to the Paris City Council in the 17th arrondissement.
From 1969 to 1973, he was Secretary of State to the Minister of Agriculture in the Chaban-Delmas and Messmer governments, although he did not serve in Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s seven-year governments, which he sharply condemned.
He was Minister of the DOM-TOM in 1986, a tenure defined by the massacre of the ouvéa cave in New Caledonia, which killed 21 people (19 Kanaks and 2 troops) between the two rounds of the 1988 presidential election, and for which he would be held responsible. From 1995 to 1997, he was also the Minister of Transport.
This father of four girls, who has spent his life dividing his time between Paris and Martinique, had a falling out with Jacques Chirac at the conclusion of his political career. “For a long time, I felt he was open, attentive, giving, and loyal in friendship. Today, I understand that it is not the case “In 2005, he told Le Parisien.
