Charles Pasqua | |
|---|---|
 Pasqua in 1987 | |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 29 March 1993 – 11 May 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | Édouard Balladur |
| Preceded by | Paul Quilès |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Louis Debré |
| In office 20 March 1986 – 10 May 1988 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacques Chirac |
| Preceded by | Pierre Joxe |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Joxe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Victor Pasqua (1927-04-18)18 April 1927 Grasse, France |
| Died | 29 June 2015(2015-06-29) (aged 88) Suresnes, France |
| Political party | Rally for France (1999–2002) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 1927 – 29 June 2015) was a French businessman andGaullist politician. He wasInterior Minister from 1986 to 1988, underJacques Chirac'scohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government ofEdouard Balladur.
Pasqua was born on 18 April 1927 inGrasse, Alpes-Maritimes.[1][2] His paternal grandfather was a shepherd fromCasevecchie,Corsica[3][4] and he could speakCorsican fluently.[5] As of 1987, his cousin served as the mayor of Casevecchie.[6]
DuringWorld War II, Pasqua joined theFrench Resistance at the age of sixteen.[3]
He subsequently received hisBaccalauréat, followed by a degree in Law.[5]
From 1952 to 1971 Pasqua worked forRicard, a producer of alcoholic beverages (most notablypastis), starting as a salesman.[5][7]
In 1971, he founded Euralim, also known as Europe-Alimentation, an importer ofAmericano, a cocktail made by the Italian companyGancia.[8]
In 1947, Pasqua helped create the section of the Gaullist PartyRPF movement for theAlpes-Maritimes.[5] WithJacques Foccart andAchille Peretti, he was the co-founder of theService d'Action Civique (SAC) in 1959 to counter the terrorist actions of theOAS during theAlgerian War of Independence (1954–1962).[5] The SAC would be charged with the underground actions of theGaullist movement and participated in the organization of the 30 May 1968Gaullist counter-demonstration.[5][9]
From 1968 to 1973, Pasqua wasdeputy to theFrench National Assembly for theHauts-de-Seinedépartement for the UDR party, of which he was a leading member from 1974 to 1976.[5] He helpedJacques Chirac to take the lead of the party and participated in its transformation into theRally for the Republic (RPR). Counsellor of Jacques Chirac alongsideMarie-France Garaud, he was in charge of the organisation of Chirac's campaign for the1981 presidential election, won by the candidate of theSocialist Party (PS),François Mitterrand (1981–1995). As such, he is considered to be Chirac's mentor in politics.[5]
From 1981 to 1986 Pasqua wassenator for the Hauts-de-Seine, then president of the RPR group in the Senate.[1] From 1986 to 1988 he wasInterior Minister (in charge of law enforcement). In 1992, he called a vote against the ratification of theMaastricht Treaty. He became Interior Minister again from 1993 to 1995, and supported the candidacy ofEdouard Balladur at the1995 presidential election. He is mostly remembered for having pushed a series of anti-immigration laws (lois Pasqua), and for his declaration "we will terrorize the terrorists."[5][9]
Pasqua headed theRally for France (RPF), asovereigntist (Eurosceptic) party, for a while in association withPhilippe de Villiers.[5] At the 1999 European Parliament election, their list got ahead of the RPR list. He served as the President of the General Council of theHauts-de-Seine from 1988 to 2004.[7] In 2004, he was electedsenator by anelectoral college.
In 2005, a US Senate report accused him, along with the BritishRespect politicianGeorge Galloway, ofprofiting illegally from the UN'soil-for-food scheme.[10] He and other French defendants were cleared of all charges in 2013 by a Paris court.[11]
In 2008, Pasqua was convicted of illegal lobbying in theMitterrand–Pasqua affair during his time serving as French Interior Minister. Sentenced in 2009 to serve one year of a three-year jail term,[12] he was acquitted on appeal in 2011.[13]
Pasqua was married to Jeanne Joly, fromQuebec, Canada.[5] They had a son,Pierre-Philippe Pasqua [fr], who died in February 2015.[3][5]
He died of a heart attack on 29 June 2015 at theFoch Hospital inSuresnes, near Paris.[3][14]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of the Interior 1986–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of the Interior 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
General Council of Hauts-de-Seine until 2015 | |
