He has spent his career at the heart of French political life, analyzing it, dissecting it and, at times, personalizing it thanks to the singularity of his interviews. Tuesday evening, October 3, shortly after the announcement of his death at the age of 86, the political class unanimously paid tribute to journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, whose career occupied the French audiovisual landscape for more than half a year. century.

“Passionate about politics, bulimic for information, pugnacious and uncompromising interviewer, demanding and visionary media director, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach left his mark on an entire generation,” declared on the X platform (formerly Twitter) l former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who shared his “sadness to see a great journalist leave this evening”.

Many remembered the uncompromising interviews conducted by the journalist, sharing their personal experience or that of their political family.

“A fellow traveler of the Fifth Republic, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach will have left his mark on the media history of our country. His legendary exchanges with Georges Marchais will remain engraved. I, in turn, appreciated his interviews, always respectful,” greeted the national secretary of the Communist Party (PCF) Fabien Roussel, referring to an interview in 1980 with the secretary general of the PCF Georges Marchais whose famous formula, “Shut up, Elkabbach! » was in fact never uttered by himself, but imagined by comedians caricaturing the debate.

“My first interview was with Jean-Pierre Elkabbach! As much a test as a consecration,” confided former Les Républicains minister, Rachida Dati.

In an equally personal register, the former socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve confided that the journalist was his “friend from Oran”. “We shared memories of North Africa, expressions that only we used,” he adds, paying tribute to “a journalist driven by a passion for knowledge, understanding and informing.”

“The political interview is in mourning”

“A lot of sadness at the announcement of the death of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach. Tireless worker, inexhaustible interviewer, I remember our first meeting, at the microphone, and this feeling of dizziness, of stress, which quickly gave way to a cordial and trusting relationship”, noted on the government side the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, while the socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo stressed that “the political interview is in mourning”.

He was an “outstanding observer of our national political life” who “believed all his life in the strength of public commitment”, said the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire.

For his part, the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella also insisted on the dimension of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach in modern politics. “He had questioned all the heads of state since Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and brought our democratic debate to life: Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, that’s more than half a century of political journalism, and memorable interviews,” a- he writes.

“The world of media is losing a great journalist of character that politicians feared because he was so intellectually solid,” added Eric Ciotti, the president of the Les Républicains party.