French Interior Minister Meets Muslim Leaders, Discusses Separatism Law

The minister promised Muslim leaders that the drafting of the law on separatism would be done in dialogue and consultation. "Separatism, it’s a concept, I don’t know if it will be the title of the law. (...) We have three months of consultation. The text is not written, we will do it together, we will discuss all the provisions," he assured. For him, Islam is "the religion that will have the least difficulty in working with the Republic".

According to the minister, the President of the Republic will specify the broad principles of a reform within about two weeks, which will then be finalized. The next steps: transmission of the text to the Council of State in November, communication in the Council of Ministers before the end of the year, then transmission to Parliament in February. "We will not initiate the emergency procedure, we will have the four readings" in both chambers, said Mr. Darmanin.

As a prelude to the meeting, the minister and the rector of the Grand Mosque, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, agreed on the schedule of consultations. The first working session will take place on September 26.