This Thursday, January 16, the deputy La France Insoumise (LFI), Ersilia Soudais, spoke at the National Assembly to denounce the law against separatism, by accusing it of unfairly targeting the Muslim community.
In a sparsely filled hemicycle, Ersilia Soudais expressed her strong opposition to the law “ reinforcing respect for the principles of the Republic », nicknamed law against separatism. For the member for Seine-et-Marne, this legislation particularly discriminates against Muslims, by designating their community as a target in a fight against “ separatism “. She described this law as real “ new form of inquisition » and criticized its impact on the freedoms of populations of Muslim faith.
The high point of his intervention was his defense of the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), dissolved by the government in 2020 after the assassination of Samuel Paty. Ersilia Soudais considered that this dissolution was a “ scandalous decision » and invited the government to focus on “ true enemies of the Republic ”, insinuating that external forces, and not the CCIF, represented a real threat. As a reminder, the CCIF was accused by Gérald Darmanin of being an Islamist organization, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, and of promoting anti-republican ideologies.
-Ersilia Soudais’ comments immediately sparked a wave of criticism. Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior, described this defense of the CCIF as a “sordid compromise”. He denounced the MP’s attitude, arguing that supporting an organization linked to radical Islamism amounts to betraying the fundamental principles of the Republic. Retailleau questioned a left ready to do anything for electoral reasons, to the detriment of the interests of the nation.
This debate thus relaunched the question of La France Insoumise’s relations with Islamist movements and the way in which the left addresses the question of secularism and respect for republican principles.
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