00:00Across to the Invalide, talk to our reporter Clemens Valla who joins us from there.
00:04Clemens, a highly emotional tribute, of course, clan there today.
00:10Absolutely. Right now the mood is one of solemn contemplation here at the Invalide.
00:16We've seen members of the Jospin family arrive.
00:20We've had members of the French political class who've all gathered here
00:24to say goodbye to a marking figure of French politics.
00:30Dominique de Villepin is here along with the Paris mayor, outgoing Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo.
00:37We've also seen the president of the parliament, Yael Broun-Privé.
00:42Members of the government, of course, include current prime minister, Sébastien Le Cornu,
00:47former socialist president, François Hollande, and former socialist member Dominique Strauss-Kanner,
00:54also part of the attendance.
00:56Now, the ceremony, as you said, is going to start in 45 minutes' time.
01:00So we are seeing right now the last rehearsals.
01:04We've heard the Republican Guard practice.
01:06We've seen the marches, the practices of the marches.
01:10And to my right, a small crowd of members of the public are behind barriers
01:16to see the national tribute to the French politician.
01:20Can you remind us, then, who exactly Lionel Jospin was and just why he was so celebrated,
01:26particularly by the left, but across all political spectrums, really highly respected?
01:34Well, so Lionel Jospin was highly respected across the political spectrum for his honesty,
01:39his integrity, the fact that he stuck to his convictions.
01:42He was known as a unifier of the left during 1997, after President Jacques Chirac dissolved the National Assembly to
01:53have legislative elections.
01:55The left, under the unifying banner of the plural left, spearheaded by Lionel Jospin,
02:02managed to win that election, forcing the government into cohabitation,
02:07a term used here in France to describe when the Prime Minister and the President are of two separate or
02:13rival factions.
02:14Now, part of his legacy are notably as Prime Minister in his laws that he's managed to pass.
02:21For example, one of the notable laws is the civil partnership that allowed homosexual couples to have a legally recognized
02:32union
02:32that laid the groundwork for gay marriage in 2013 when it was legalized under Socialist President François Hollande.
02:39Another law that Jospin spearheaded was the Tobira Law,
02:45which is a law that declared, that made France essentially reckon with its colonial past,
02:51declaring for the first time in its history that the slave trade and slavery were crimes against humanity.
02:56Part of his legacy is not just in success, it is also rooted in failure, as you mentioned,
03:01the 2002 presidential election.
03:04And the Lionel Jospin ended up in a shock loss, placing third, failing to qualify for the second round,
03:12which saw President Jacques Chirac face off against far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen,
03:18marking the first time in post-war France that the far-right was this close to the doors of power.
03:25Clemence, thanks very much. Clemence Vallaud there covering that for us here on France 24.
03:29We'll be back with her as that ceremony, of course, gets underway here on the channel.
03:33So stay with us for that.
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