France debates bill aimed at tackling the ‘Islamist takeover bid’ and the ‘disease’ of religious radicalism

• Emmanuel Macron has pushed legislation to tighten rules on a range of issues
• It would cover topics such as religious-based education, as well as polygamy 
• France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin brand Islamic extremism a ‘disease’ 

Politicians in France have started debating a bill aimed at tackling the so-called ‘Islamist takeover bid,’ as one of the country’s most senior figure branded extremism a ‘disease’.

President Emmanuel Macron has pushed through the controversial new bill which would tighten rules on a range of issues including religous-based education and polygamy.

It comes after a spate of attacks in France that were blamed on extremists last year.  

Two weeks of tense debates are expected to be held at the lower house National Assembly – with both sides raising concerns with the legislation.

While politicians on the left fear it stigmatises most Muslims, the right argues that it fails tackle core issues. 

President Emmanuel Macron has pushed through the controversial new bill which would tighten rules on a range of issues including religous-based education and polygamy

The legislation is dubbed the anti-separatism bill as ministers fear radical Muslims are creating communities separate from France’s staunchly secular identity.

It has been bitterly criticised in Muslim countries.

‘Our country is sick from separatism, above all Islamism which is damaging our national unity,’ Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told parliament.

‘You have to know what to call the disease, you have to find the medicine,’ he added. ‘This text does not fight religions but the Islamist takeover bid,’ he added.

The law was in the pipeline before the October killing of Samuel Paty, a junior high school teacher who was beheaded in the street after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a class.

But the killing, committed by an 18-year old Chechen after a virulent social media campaign against the teacher, gave fresh impetus to the bill.

It prompted the inclusion of the specific crimes of online hate speech and divulging personal information on the internet.

Under the legislation, doctors also would be fined or jailed if they performed a virginity test on girls.

Polygamy is already outlawed in France but the new law would also ban authorities from issuing residency papers to polygamous applicants.

The killing of teacher Samuel Paty after he showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to his class, gave fresh impetus to the bill

Paty’s death came amid a spate of jihadist-inspired attacks in France this year, including a knife assault outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and deadly stabbings at a church in Nice.

Macron has become a figure of hate in some Muslim countries and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the draft law an ‘open provocation’.

In France, far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon opposes a text that he says ‘stigmatises Muslims’.

On the right, the parliamentary group leader of The Republicans Damien Abad said the text ignores issues such as radicalisation in prison and migration.

Meanwhile French far-right leader Marine Le Pen – who analysts believe will be Macron’s main rival in 2022 elections – last week outlined her own plan, which include a ban on Muslim headscarves in all public places. 

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