quote:
Originally posted by Marc:
. . about the recent ban of head scarves. Does anyone know what the Socialist Party has said about this policy?
Here's something I may have posted last month, but can't find:
The Canadian press has, of course, failed to do more than skim the surface of the vote to ban the hijab from French schools.
The Feb. 10 vote on first reading of the "bill on the application of the principle of secularism in the schools" was 494 for, 36 against, 31 abstentions. So who voted which way?
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/scrutins/jo0436.asp
In the Socialist Group, solidarity reigned as 140 voted for it, and only two against: Christiane Taubira, the deputy from French Guyana who ran for president for the left-liberal "Radical Left" Party in 2002 but sits as an affiliated member of the Socialist group, and a second affiliated deputy, from Reunion.
In the group called "Communists and Republicans," the leadership and 14 deputies were against, but announced a free vote: seven broke ranks and voted for it.
In the unaffiliated 12, the Green leader announced that the three Greens would vote against, but only two actually did, while the third abstained. An unaffiliated Reunion deputy was also against, as was one other.
In the governing UMP, 330 were for (including the deputy from Mayotte, Mansour Kamardine, who said his constituents were mostly Muslims but were fervent republicans). Only 12 liberals led by Alain Madelin (who ran for president in 2002 for his Thatcherite Liberal Democracy party, and now heads the centre-right liberal wing of the UMP) were against. Another 17 sceptics led by former prime minister Edouard Balladur abstained. Balladur was concerned that the law would not stand up to a constitutional challenge, and felt it should only apply if "these religious insignia would be likely to disturb the good order of the establishment."
In the government's ally the centrist, pro-European UDF, 12 sceptics led by UDF leader François Bayrou (who also ran for president) abstained, while another four even voted against it. However, 13 of his deputies broke ranks and voted for it.
So the 36 against were 20 leftists and 16 centre-right liberals, while another 30 centre-right liberals and one Green abstained.
An opinion poll of French Muslims found 53% against the law and 42% in favour of it.