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On January first, in France, a few hundred people got the Légion d'Honneur, like M. Bayrou.
While this is obviously a personnal opinion, I do not believe, for several reasons which are out of topic here, such decoration should be given for politicians.
What are the reasons (official and unofficial) politicians obtain such honorary* decoration ?
*: The Légion d'Honneur is the most prestigious civilian and military decoration you can get in France.
The honour is give for "eminent merit", that is achieving significantly more than their peers in some field, especially one that benefits France in some way.
Although sitting members of Parliament are not eligible, there is no particular reason why politicians should be considered unable to achieve eminent merit. And their role naturally means that they are in a position to benefit France.
So the official reason is simple. Politicians can get the honour for the same reason that sportspeople, businesspeople, actor or civil servants get it.
