Chassain served as
Deputy for
Bouches-du-Rhône's 16th constituency in the as a member of the
Union for a Popular Movement. As a member of the
National Assembly, he fought for the reestablishment of the
death penalty for acts of terrorism. However, the
Constitution of France was rewritten in 2007 to eliminate the death penalty. That year, he was defeated by
Michel Vauzelle of the
Socialist Party. Chassain ran again in
2012, but withdrew in favor of the
National Front candidate and rallying voters against Michel Vauzelle, though Vauzelle retained the seat. During the
2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Chassain supported
Jean-François Copé to be leader of the party. Following a contested election, he called for
Nicolas Sarkozy to be President of the UMP, and for Copé and
François Fillon to be co-presidents. In a December 2012 interview with
Minute, Chassain called for more unity between the UMP and the National Front. Roland Chassain died on 9 February 2021 at the age of 74, four days after his birthday. ==Distinctions==