France unveils draft law to fight extremism

PARIS－A draft law aimed at arming France against radicalism was unveiled on Wednesday, a measure promoted by President Emmanuel Macron to root out what he calls "separatists" undermining the nation.

Parliament is expected to open what is likely to be a lively debate on the draft law in the months ahead. The measure, long in the making and refined until days before its presentation, has gone through various name changes and is now known by the delicate title "Supporting Republican Principles".

Prime Minister Jean Castex said those whose project is to "divide and spread hate and violence" are at the center of "separatism".

Separatism is especially dangerous because it "is the manifestation of a conscious, theorized, political-religious project with an ambition to make religious norms predominate over the law," he said at a conference.

In an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, he said the nature of a law is long-term and it would apply to any political ideology that threatens French values.

Castex and others insist that neither Islam as a religion nor regular Muslims are targeted by the draft law.

Neither is named in the text made up of about 50 articles aimed at enabling better oversight of mosques, associations, public services and schools. The aim is to reduce the space where radicals can operate and ensure that French values, including secularism, are guaranteed.

Among notable measures is making school obligatory from age 3 with the ability to opt out in favor of home schooling for special cases only. The measure is aimed at ending so-called clandestine schools run by fundamentalists with their own agenda.

Macron spelled out in a speech in October his reasons for wanting to tackle extremism in all its forms. He said extremists want "to create a parallel order, build other values, develop another organization of society."

Agencies via Xinhua