UPI: PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to launch a national debate on the role and influence in France of Islam, the country's second-largest religion.Last week Sarkozy joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in announcing "multiculturalism is not working" and setting out to formalize the relationship between Islam and the fiercely secular state of France, France24 reported Friday.
Sarkozy's call for the debate is viewed as a move to woo voters from the far-right National Front party.
"It is out of the question that French society should be influenced by Islam," Sarkozy said. "This is a secular country." >>> | Friday, February 18, 2011
HT: Pastorius >>>
FRANCE 24: Following last year’s controversial ban on the full Islamic veil in public places, French President Nicolas Sarkozy now wants to formalise the relationship between Islam and France's fiercely secular state.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has set his sights on the role of Islam in a secular France, which looks set to become a major theme ahead of the 2012 presidential elections.
Sarkozy said Tuesday that he wants to launch a debate in April on the role and influence of the country’s second-biggest religion.
The call for a discussion on Islam follows comments Sarkozy made last week that “multiculturalism is not working” and is seen as a bid to win back voters from the far-right National Front party.
“There is a growing gulf between the media portrayal of Islam and the preoccupations of the French people,” Sarkozy told members of his conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party at a dinner he hosted this week.
And while it remains unclear whether the president would look to encode the debate’s findings in a new law, one unnamed UMP lawmaker told right-wing daily Le Figaro, “The role of Islam in France is going to be a central issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.” ‘This is a secular country’ >>> Tony Todd | Saturday, February 19, 2011
