PARIS — French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Tuesday delivered a scathing critique of his predecessor and centrist ally Gabriel Attal’s proposal to ban Muslim headscarves for minors under 15.
Attal, the leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance political party, publicly floated the proposal following a report on alleged attempts by groups supposedly tied to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood to “infiltrate” French society and promote a fundamentalist agenda. The report — described by some experts as “alarmist” — cited instances of particularly young girls wearing headscarves.
While Bayrou acknowledged that the document contained useful elements, he said in an interview with RMC that the “scale” of the issue still needs to be assessed and the government must tread carefully out of respect for France’s law-abiding Muslim community.
“I don’t want to make Islam a subject of fixation for French society,” Bayrou said.
Attal, a former socialist and early Macron ally, and other centrists have increasingly seemed to inch rightward on the political spectrum as France and the rest of Europe has drifted toward a more conservative tilt. As education minister, Attal was responsible for overseeing the ban on abayas — long, flowing robes worn by some Muslim women — in school.
But Bayrou hinted that Attal’s new proposal could alienate many French Muslims and would be nearly impossible to enforce.
“Does it mean that, in the streets, police officers will tell young women, show me your ID so I can see if you’re old enough?” he said.
Macron on Monday said the risk of Islamist infiltration exists but shouldn’t be overblown at the risk of becoming “conspiratorial and paranoid.”
Attal’s idea is unlikely to see the light of day without support from Bayrou or even within his own party. Elisabeth Borne, the current education minister and Renaissance’s second-in-command, said she had “the greatest doubts as to the constitutionality of this measure.”
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