Debré was first elected to the National Assembly in the 1986 parliamentary election; he was re-elected in 1988, 1993, 1997, and 2002 as a deputy from Eure's 1st constituency.[2] He served as Minister of the Interior in Prime MinisterAlain Juppé's governments (1995–1997). As minister, he was criticized for having allowed the armed Corsican clandestine press conference, and was responsible for the controversial 1996 evacuation of Saint-Bernard de la Chapelle church in Paris, which was occupied by illegal immigrants (so called sans-papiers) on hunger strikes. Also during his time in office, he led efforts on a 1997 law aimed at curbing illegal immigration and making it easier to assimilate foreigners in the country.[3]
On the local level, Debré was elected as Mayor of Évreux in 2001, serving in that post until 2007.
Debré later served as leader of the RPR group in the National Assembly from 1997 to 2002 and then President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007. Faithful to President Chirac, he frequently criticized UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy.[4] He resigned as President of the National Assembly three months before the end of his tenure.
President of the Constitutional Council
On 22 February 2007, Debré was appointed by Chirac as President of the Constitutional Council.[5][6] He replaced Pierre Mazeaud in the latter position, and was replaced by Laurent Fabius in 2016.
During his time as president, the Constitutional Council notably ruled in 2011 that France’s ban on same sex marriage did not violate the constitution and the decision on whether to legalize it rested with parliament.[7]
In 2015, a chance encounter between Debré and homeless author Jean-Marie Roughol led the latter to write about living rough, resulting in the French bestseller Je tape la manche (I’m begging).[8]
