2023-08-29 12:09:47
The decision of the French government to veto the use of a traditional tunic in Islamic countries in the name of secularism opens a new crack on the left. While the radical left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon announces a legal appeal against the measure, communists and socialists support the initiative of the Ministry of Education.
First modification: 08/29/2023 – 12:09
2 min
Defense of the secular system or discrimination? The French left disagrees. After a weekend in which the parties of the Nupes coalition of left-wing parties showed their divisions over the European elections, a new issue has widened the gap within the union of the left and environmentalists. Education Minister Gabriel Attal’s announcement to ban the abaya in schools has not met with unanimous approval.
For the leader of La Izquierda Insumisa, Jean Luc Mélenchon, who considers that banning the abaya feeds “an absurd religious war” around “a woman’s garment”. On the other hand, Fabien Roussel, leader of the communists, considers that the decision is “necessary”, so as not to leave school principals to deal with the problem alone. And on social networks the complaints intensify: “A list for the European elections with that? No, thanks”, exclaimed on X (Ex Twitter) the insubmissive deputy Nadège Abomangoli, in reaction to a series of messages from her socialist colleague Jérôme Guedj, a supporter of banning clothing considered “ostentatious” and “proselytizing.”
judicial appeal
LFI announced on Tuesday its intention to bring before the Council of State (a government body that acts as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court of administrative justice) the “cruel” decision of the French Minister of Education to ban the use of the abaya in schools, exposing the divisions on the left around secularism.
This ban will mean “once again discrimination against young women and, in particular, against young Muslims, and I don’t think we need that in our country,” LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard told France 2.
In any case, the controversy has caused embarrassment in Nupes, but it also illustrates, as in the European question, the persistent differences around secularism. The issue has also fueled divisions within the Socialist Party, for example. For a year now, the opponents of the First Secretary, Olivier Faure, have denounced the alliance with the LFI, which they accuse of complacency with Islamist circles.
The CGT, through its general secretary Sophie Binet, also took a position: “As soon as it is considered that (the abaya) is a religious symbol, of course it must be prohibited, like all the others, but the problem of making a political instrumentalization The issue is that it is not the same as a religious symbol.
France already banned in 2004 the wearing of any conspicuous religious sign, such as the Islamic veil or kipás, in schools and institutes.
#French #left #divided #ban #abaya #schools