Editing Maurice Papon (section)

==Company president and government minister==
[[File:11.12.67 Présentation officielle du Concorde (1967) - 53Fi1800.jpg|thumb|Maurice Papon shaking [[Tony Benn]]'s hand during the presentation of the [[Concorde]].]]
De Gaulle helped Papon become president of the company [[Sud Aviation]] (1967–1968). The firm, which later merged into ''[[Aérospatiale]]'', built the first [[Concorde]] plane in 1969. During May 1968, he wrote: "Is it the return of the Occupation? The young German [[anarchy|anarchist]] [Daniel] [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit|Cohn-Bendit]] is freely arranging the riots."<ref>French "Est-ce le retour de l'Occupation ?", ose-t-il demander. Le jeune anarchiste allemand Cohn-Bendit règle librement l'émeute (...) " in ''Le Monde'', "Maurice Papon, une carrière française", ibid.</ref> The new chief of the Paris police managed to take care of the situation without a single death.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}{{Ambiguous|date=April 2025}}

Papon was elected deputy of [[Cher (department)|Cher]] as candidate of the Gaullist [[Union of Democrats for the Republic]] (UDR) in May 1968. He was re-elected in 1973 and again in 1978, now for the neo-Gaullist [[Rally for the Republic]] (RPR). He was elected mayor of [[Saint-Amand-Montrond]] in 1971 and 1977. Papon was director of the ''Verreries mécaniques champenoises'', a [[glass art]] firm in [[Reims]].<ref>{{Base Mérimée|IA51000178|Verrerie dite Verreries Mécaniques Champenoises, puis Verre Mouvement Création.}}</ref>

On the evening of 4–5 June 1977, a commando shot at workers on [[strike action|strike]], killing CGT trade-unionist Pierre Maître and severely injuring two others. Four of the five members of the commando, members of the CGT were arrested by the police.<ref>Jean-Paul Piérot ''[https://www.humanite.fr/2007-06-04_Politique_L-assassin-etait-chez-Citroen L'Assassin était chez Citroën] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911033949/http://www.humanite.fr/2007-06-04_Politique_L-assassin-etait-chez-Citroen |date=2007-09-11}}'' L'Humanité, 4 June 2007.</ref> The leader of the commando and shooter, who received a 20-year sentence, and the driver were members of the [[Service d'Action Civique]].

From 1968 to 1971, Papon was treasurer of the UDR. He became President of the Finance Commission of the [[National Assembly of France|National Assembly]] in 1972 and was the deputy presenting the budget (''rapporteur général du budget'') from 1973 to 1978. He served as Budget Minister under [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister]] [[Raymond Barre]] and President [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] from 1978 to 1981, before finishing his mayoral term in 1983 and renouncing further political activity.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}