MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2021) France's National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament, on Tuesday passed legislation entailing the upholding of secular values, including the tackling of radical Islamism.
In early October, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the authorities would present the draft legislation against extremism in December, the same month its text was approved by the country's cabinet of ministers.
"The deputies [of National Assembly] adopted, at first reading, the bill confirming respect for republican principles. Voting: 563; Majority: 250; For: 347; Against: 151; Abstentions: 65," the chamber tweeted.
The text came amid an increase in the terrorist threat in France, as two subsequent terrorist attacks occurred across the country in October 2020, namely, the brutal beheading of a teacher in Paris and a knife-stabbing in Nice that resulted in three fatalities. The assaults prompted a wave of national dismay across the country, while the legislation outraged some Muslim states.
The critics of the law claim that the French government intends to use it to target religion, while its supporters say it is designed to promote respect for secular principles and sanction acts that contradict them. Additionally, the law advocates the free practice of all religions, according to French Prime Minister Jean Castex.
