Often, they occupy only half a page in the regional daily newspaper, a photo in a somewhat dull room, parliamentary office or association headquarters, around ten people around an elected official, a few croissants, coffee, sometimes a friendship Glass. But it doesn’t matter that these ceremonies do not have the honors of the national press, nor those of the gold of the Republic, in the constituencies, they are an event. In these times when deputies are looking for a way to do politics differently, to keep a link with the field, not to be accused of disconnection with voters, they are rediscovering the charm of distributing “medals of the National Assembly” , decorations without decorum, which for a time fell into disuse.
Yesterday, deputies could combine the hats of parliamentarian and mayor and award city medals to their deserving fellow citizens. The parliamentary reserve also allowed them to show their support for local initiatives. Deprived of these two tools, they had to imagine other ways to show that, although sitting in Paris, they did not forget the life of their constituency. More distinction than decoration, the National Assembly medal has the advantage of being at the complete discretion of the deputies. No number limit is set for them, they just need to choose the model from the three offered, have the name of the person concerned engraved on it and pay a sum varying from 11.60 to 47.10 euros.
Unlike the Legion of Honor, the National Assembly medal, which displays the hemicycle on one side and the facade on the other, is not official. It is not governed by any rule, except that of the desire to show recognition. In May 2023, Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the Palais Bourbon, rewarded the filmmaker Euzhan Palcy, director of Rue Cases-Nègres Or A white and dry seasonlittle known in France, but honored with an honorary Oscar in 2022, in her words: “The medal of the National Assembly is not one of those that we wear on the chest, hung on a ribbon. […] Above all, it is a mark of recognition from the National Representation which encourages you to continue.”
Neither heroism, nor seniority, dedication to the City
Association presidents, medal-winning athletes, ordinary veterans, young volunteers, dedicated mayors… MPs freely compose the list of recipients. What they often have in common is an associative, free and time-consuming commitment. And the characteristic of not being able to be rewarded in any other way because they do not fit into the boxes of extraordinary heroism, nor into the longevity necessary to obtain certain rewards.
“Whether it is the Legion of Honor, the Order of Merit or the Order of Agricultural Merit, the formalities are a little long. As for military medals, there are quotas to respect for active military personnel and veterans, many of those I decorated, often elderly, would not have received recognition from the institutions of the Republic without this medal”, says Régis Juanico, PS deputy for the Loire between 2007 and 2022, which displays on its blog the list of its fifty recipients, with a short biography for each. “In constituencies like mine, with 230 municipalities and many medium-sized associations, it is not easy to obtain rewards. The Assembly medal is not official, but it is republican”, adds Jean-Philippe Tanguy, National Rally deputy for the Somme.
Roger Vicot, PS deputy from the North, rewarded around ten fellow citizens in January. Among them, Hiba Gouizi, 19 years old, vice-world champion in mixed karate and kempo, and Maurice Debras, 81 years old, volunteer gardener. “Without these thousands of volunteers, our cities would be different. And we never talk about it,” he notes. Delphine Lingemann, Renaissance MP for Puy-de-Dôme, took advantage of her wishes at the start of the year to honor a basketball club from a working-class neighborhood, a women’s rugby club, an organizer of a cycling competition… A panel that responds to a subtle geographical and human distribution: “We needed diversity so that everyone could say: “ah, hey, so-and-so was rewarded”.
It also allows you to discover initiatives that are taking place a few kilometers from home but that people don’t know about.” Régis Juanico, for his part, chose quite a few veterans of the Algerian War out of loyalty to a family history, even if his political friends may have been surprised: “My father and my grandfather were pieds-noirs. So it’s true that the veterans’ community is not necessarily the closest to my left-wing beliefs, but there you go…”
Sometimes political disagreements
All the recipients say they do not chase honors, but do not hide their pride at having been decorated. Hiba Gouizi, from Lomme, appreciates having received his medal despite his 19 years: “I thought it was for older people, but the MP liked my career, my personality.” Nicolas Mallet, president of Issoire Sport Organization, was almost happier to receive this medal than that of Youth and Sports, obtained in 2018: “It was more festive, the presentation was made to me by the former MP Jean-Paul Bacquet, who is passionate about cycling. It was also a collective satisfaction for the many volunteers around me.”
Same desire to share for Catherine Gaudry, president of Secours catholique du Val-de-Marne, decorated by Mathieu Lefèvre (Renaissance) in October 2023: “I said that I was taking it on behalf of our 450 volunteers to make their voices heard .” It is also this object that employees of the department chose during a regional meeting to symbolize an important event of the past year. Even if the medal may have had a bitter taste for certain members of the association. The departmental branch is, in fact, very involved in helping migrants. A few months before the start of the parliamentary discussion around the immigration law, she had organized, at the request of the MP, a meeting with the latter, migrants and volunteers. Upon discovering the text voted by the presidential majority at the end of 2023, just a few weeks after the medal was awarded, disillusionment sometimes prevailed.
The deputies refuse to play politics with these decorations, but they are never far away. The moment is a valuable tool for communicating about its action on the ground, the local press is invited, and when they are not traveling, the photos taken by the parliamentary attachés end up reaching them in due course. Some elected officials do not hesitate to overdo it, they evoke a “medal of honor” from the Assembly, a subtle way of playing confusion with the Legion of Honor, or oversell it by evoking a “grand gold medal”. Most of the recipients have fond memories of being chosen. In particular, those who had the impression that, until then, no one was listening to them.
The leaders of the National Rally, keen to improve their presence, understood this. By welcoming the new deputies in 2022, Sébastien Chenu reminded them of the existence of the medal and the interest it could have. Advice that Jean-Philippe Tanguy, deputy for the Somme, applies by sticking to his party’s fights: last December, he rewarded several anti-wind turbine activists. Among them, Colette, who had toured politicians in the hope of obtaining their support. Without success, until Jean-Philippe Tanguy received it at length and awarded him the medal: “He shed light on the activities of the association.” Or Hubert Delarue, lawyer in Amiens, long involved with Gilles de Robien, to whom Eric Dupond-Moretti presented the Legion of Honor in June 2022. Member of Vent de anger Rubempré, another anti-wind power collective, he appreciates the attention: “We are a very small association and he is the only one who came to help us. He gave us money. I had no particular reason to offend him.” Colette’s treasurer preferred to resign when he learned that she was accepting a medal from an RN deputy.
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