This series is interested until Friday December 31 in the wishes of the Presidents of the Republic, but in very particular wishes, and which reason with those that will formulate Emmanuel Macron in a few days: the last wishes of a mandate.
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“My dear compatriots, among the events that will mark 1994, the rescue of the Airbus Algiers-Paris, only a few days ago… “It is with a tired voice, that François Mitterrand pronounces on December 31, 1994, his last wishes of happy new year to the French. The voice is tired because the President of the Republic is very sick. The public has known since 1992 that François Mitterrand suffers from prostate cancer but completely ignores the real state of health of the president as well as the treatments which exhaust him. He obviously ignores that the president would have thought of resigning and that shortly before these wishes , he would have confided to his friend the philosopher Jean Guitton that he only had six months to live.
François Mitterrand attacks his wishes by talking about the hostage-taking of the Air France flight to Marseille and all of his speech is very political, referring to the challenges ahead for France, which is struggling to overcome unemployment and the economic crisis.
Still, this speech is also a political testament. The great struggle of his last years is European construction, and it is to this project that he devotes his last words as President of the Republic. “My dear compatriots, this is the last time that I am addressing you for New Year’s greetings in my capacity as President of the Republic. Also, I will allow myself two recommendations: the first, never dissociate freedom and equality. These are ideals that are difficult to achieve, but which are the basis of any democracy. The second, never separate the greatness of France from the construction of Europe. This is our new dimension and our ambition for the next century. ” proclaims François Mitterrand.
Finally come the last words of these last wishes. Words borrowed from a deep spirituality for a man who is about to live his last months as president and his last months of life. “I believe in the forces of the spirit”, said François Mitterrand.