39

A look back at the outcome of the 2008 municipal elections in Pau sheds light on the weight of grief in the succession process. Following the early stages of depression caused by the disappearance of the political leader, the grieving process also enables the reorganization of political competition governing the choice of a successor, as the return to a routine made possible by the disappearance of the gatekeeper. Time variables and the composition of the electorate (in camera council and election) strongly influence the choice of a successor, whose very face questioned the link between heredity and legitimacy in succession. The second body of the king does not ultimately survive the space circumscribed by grief, including the social representations of the political role assumed by the deceased.