The proposal has always appeared in Marine Le Pen's presidential program. On Sunday, RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy put an end to rumors about a potential renunciation in the matter: yes, the National Rally (RN) defends the ban on the Islamic veil in public spaces. An “inapplicable” proposal, according to the president of the Republicans (LR) Bruno Retailleau who denounced this morning on RTL of “populism” and “demagoguery”.
“I want to tell the truth to the French. And Madame Le Pen, National Rally, brandishes slogans which she knows very well are inapplicable,” said the Vendée senator. “Besides, look, it’s floundering hard, between the expression of Mr. Tanguy, the expression of Mr. Bardella, the expression of Madame Le Pen.” On Monday, Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen indicated that in the event of victory in 2027, the RN would propose a referendum against Islamism in which a ban on the veil would appear.
Going through a referendum would have the advantage of avoiding censorship by the Constitutional Council, which refrains from controlling a posteriori a text voted directly by the sovereign people. It is not impossible, on the other hand, that the wise men of rue Montpensier refuse to call the referendum if it does not relate to a subject expressly provided for by the Constitution. A nuance on which Bruno Retailleau did not dwell, who stressed that a law prohibiting the veil would be legally contrary to the current framework on secularism.
“If you ban, legally there is a problem. If you prohibit the veil, then you must prohibit the kippah, you must prohibit nuns, if I dare say so, from covering their hair. (...) We must not lie to the French.” The boss of LR in the Senate recalled his proposals on the subject, some of which were voted on at first reading in the upper house of parliament. In particular, he wants to ban the veil “in federal sports competitions, to protect sport” and extend the ban on the veil at school to school chaperones who supervise outings outside the buildings.
“I am attacking the causes, I am attacking the ideology of the Muslim brothers, precisely the entryism, by creating an offense of entryism,” also recalled Bruno Retailleau. This proposal was voted on at first reading by senators last May. Bruno Retailleau did not cite, however, the bill proposed by the boss of LR to the Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez, which proposes to prohibit the wearing of the veil for minors in public spaces. The RN lieutenants “know that their proposal is not applicable,” insisted the LR boss. “Are we going to mobilize the police and gendarmes tomorrow? (...) It’s populism, it’s demagoguery.”
Bruno Retailleau also reacted to the comments of Jean-Philippe Tanguy who accused him on X of “preparing [his] merger with Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal”. “I am not at the same time, on immigration for example,” he said. “We heard Edouard Philippe being very firm regarding Mayotte. And then say that we need even more immigrants for work, for students. I think that if we want to control immigration tomorrow, we need a clear signal to all human trafficking networks. I close as much as possible. For example, in terms of work, you have almost 400,000 foreigners in a legal situation who report to Pôle emploi, to France Travail!”
