LREM tears on the veil worn by one of its candidates

Edit of May 11 at 7:10 p.m .: Update of the paper after the announcement of the withdrawal of the investiture by Stanislas Guérini

“Is this the fight against separatism?” ” With a simple tweet, Jordan Bardella ignited La République en Marche. The number 2 of the National Gathering called on Monday evening the minister delegate in charge of citizenship Marlène Schiappa, by tweeting the photo of an electoral poster of LREM in a canton of Montpellier. We can see one of the replacement candidates, Sara Zemmahi, wearing a veil, alongside three running mates, under the slogan “Different but united for you!” “. An initiative denounced in the wake of the party boss, Stanislas Guérini.

“The values ​​carried by LREM are not compatible with the conspicuous wearing of religious symbols on an electoral campaign document. Either these candidates change their photo, or LREM will withdraw their support, ”reacted the general delegate of the presidential party in response to Jordan Bardella’s tweet. But this exit Tuesday caused a fracture within the majority.

Government and party support

If some marchers supported the position of Stanislas Guerini, others have little tasted the ultimatum posed by the boss of LREM. “I disagree with my political party. When you have a young woman engineer, who does volunteer hours, who joins a party to promote progressive values, whether she is veiled or not, she has her place with us, ”defended the member for Hérault Coralie Dubost on Radio J. “Contempt for the law is the RN’s agenda. Not ours. To rule out this candidate would be discrimination, ”adds her colleague from Val-d’Oise Naïma Moutchou in a tweet. The elected of Paris Sacha Houlié for his part requested the head of general delegate of LREM. “I think it is time that he passed the hand and the instances of the party with him,” he said to Release.

Suffice to say that the atmosphere was not at the party, during the group meeting, this Tuesday. If Stanislas Guérini recognized an awkwardness on the form – he should not have reacted directly to Jordan Bardella’s tweet – he maintained his position on the bottom, causing great tension. “The group was totally torn apart, it was going to ruin, despite the efforts of Guerini and Castaner [président du groupe LREM à l’Assemblée]. On these questions, there is no unanimity, the majority has no course, no head, “regrets the deputy of Essonne Francis Chouat, related LREM and supporter of a firmer line.

Withdrawal of the nomination

For its part, the government supported the party boss, like Gabriel Attal. “For La République en Marche, indeed, we do not wish to present candidates who appear on official campaign documents with an ostensible religious sign, it is a question of political choice,” pleaded the government spokesman. on France inter, specifying that “legally, nothing prevents a person from standing for election with a religious symbol”.

“The right to wear a veil is in no way called into question. But in the context of an electoral campaign, under our colors, religion has no place. Because the campaign implies a form of neutrality, with a desire to unite. So either these posters are redone in a neutral way, or we will withdraw the nomination ”, adds Maud Bregeon, spokesperson for LREM.

After the list members have assured, this Tuesday on BFMTV, that they maintained their candidacy, the ax fell at the end of the day. Sara Zemmahi “will not be supported by La République en Marche”,
Stanislas Guérini said in the evening on RTL, thus depriving him of the LREM nomination.

The opposition has also seized on the subject. The boss of the right-wing group in the Assembly Damien Abad announced the tabling of a bill to impose “religious neutrality when one is a candidate in an election”.