French Far-Right Presidential Candidate Sparks Controversy With Pledge to Hold Referendum on Hijab Ban

France is set to hold a presidential election next spring.

Marine Le Pen, a leading figure of the far-right National Rally, is currently leading various opinion polls in terms of preference and support.

However, a post shared by Le Pen, who has emerged as a front-runner for the presidency, on her social media account on August 31 has sparked intense controversy.

Le Pen stated that full-face hijabs worn by women claim the inferiority of women and announced that she would push for a bill to ban wearing hijabs in public spaces.

She stated that if elected president, she would put the bill to a national referendum.

She emphasized that she would not only ban the hijab, but also add other stringent measures to restrict Islamism.

In connection with this, the National Rally stated that a plan to impose fines on women who wear hijabs would be pursued.

Le Pen and the National Rally, who have championed anti-immigration policies, also pledged to ban hijabs and regulate Islamism in the previous presidential election.

They actually submitted related bills to parliament, but the hijab ban failed to pass through parliament following a ruling by the Constitutional Council that it constituted reverse discrimination against Muslims.

Le Pen, who has once again brought forward the hijab ban policy as a presidential campaign promise this time, has introduced a referendum as an alternative to bypass parliamentary opposition.

Criticism is pouring in from the French political arena.

Rebuttals followed, asking whether she intends to create a police force to regulate clothing and criticizing the hijab ban as an excessive Islamophobic policy.

[Glucksmann / French Center-Left Presidential Candidate : We do not play games using specific groups as subjects. Nor do we constantly divide society by exploiting identity conflicts.]

As the controversy grows, she appears to be refraining from further remarks for now, but the far-right's strategy of bringing Islamic issues to the forefront ahead of next year's presidential election is expected to continue.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.