A FRENCH Bill to ban face veils in public looks likely to pass easily through parliament after the opposition Socialist Party pledged not to hinder its passage.
As members of the National Assembly began to debate the controversial piece of legislation yesterday, it emerged that only the Greens and Communists plan to oppose it.
The president of the Socialist deputies, Jean-Marc Ayrault, announced that, despite the tense public debate surrounding the Bill tabled by the centre-right UMP, he would not obstruct its adoption.
France’s highest legal advisory body, the Council of State, has warned that an outright ban on face-covering veils such as the niqab and burka would be unconstitutional, but President Nicolas Sarkozy says he is determined to ban the garments in the interests of security and women’s rights.
Opinion polls suggest a majority of voters support the ban.
The government has proposed a fine of €150 on any woman who wears a face veil in public, while anyone forcing a woman to cover her face could receive a one-year jail sentence and a €30,000 fine. A Socialist amendment has been adopted which would double the fine in cases where the individual being forced to wear the veil is a minor.
The lower house of parliament is due to examine the Bill over the coming days, with a vote scheduled for next Tuesday.
The text will then be put to a vote in the senate in September. Should the law be adopted, minister for justice Michèle Alliot-Marie has said there will be a six-month grace period to allow Muslim leaders to persuade covered women that their veils violate French values.
Amnesty International called on deputies to reject the Bill, saying is “violates the right to liberty of expression and religion of those women” who wear the burka and the niqab “as an expression of their identity or their convictions”.
The proposed ban has been hugely contentious in France, where almost 10 per cent of the 62 million population is Muslim.
Its critics point to the fact that fewer than 2,000 women wear a face veil in France, according to the interior ministry’s estimate, and argue that the measure would stigmatise Muslims.
Opposition figures have accused Mr Sarkozy of pressing the issue in order to win support from the far-right in advance of the 2012 presidential election.
Mr Sarkozy and his ministers have responded by seeking to reassure the country’s Muslims.
“This is a decision one doesn’t take lightly,” the president said after the government approved the Bill in May.
“Nobody should feel hurt or stigmatised. I’m thinking in particular of our Muslim compatriots, who have their place in the republic and should feel respected.”
Mr Sarkozy said France was “an old nation united around a certain idea of personal dignity, particularly women’s dignity, and of life together. It’s the fruit of centuries of efforts.”
As a full ban draws closer in France, similar moves are afoot in other European countries. In Belgium, a Bill banning the wearing of face veils is awaiting senate approval, while Spain’s senate last month approved a motion to ban the full veil in public places.