French Parliament Debates Controversial Bill to Combat Radical Islamism

After so many hours of hearings and work in the special committee, the deputies will finally debate the draft law "strengthening the republican principles" in plenary session. The government will make the trip to the Palais Bourbon, where Gérald Darmanin from the Interior Ministry, who is piloting the bill, Marlène Schiappa, Eric Dupond-Moretti or Jean-Michel Blanquer are announced.

Within the majority, the mood is one of cautious optimism. For a member of parliament on the special committee, "it will depend on individuals who may want to dramatize or hystericize the debates." The interventions of LFI deputies and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who are opposed to a text accused of "stigmatizing Muslims," but especially the right and far right, are expected.

Marine Le Pen has already presented a counter-project last Friday. It is a bill aimed at banning "Islamist ideologies" and prohibiting the wearing of the veil in all public spaces. The LRs will unveil theirs on Tuesday, they "who are much more divided on the text than they claim," reveals the LREM co-rapporteur Sacha Houlié.

The bill is intended to translate Emmanuel Macron’s speech on October 2 in Les Mureaux, where the Head of State had presented his strategy to fight against radical Islam. However, the text remains rather silent on segregation, social and territorial separatism, and school mixing, laments the communist Stéphane Peu.

While the leader of the LREM deputies Christophe Castaner assures the support of his group, the majority will nevertheless have to be careful to find a balance on the new modalities of financing of religions and above all, home schooling (IEF) which is the subject of 384 amendments.