Marine Le Pen vows to fine those wearing headscarves: Who is the French presidential candidate and what are her far-right ideologies?
Just as people without seatbelts in cars are fined, those wearing headscarves may soon get fined if it is up to Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate in France
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is being seen as a tough competition against French President Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election. AFP
Just as people without seatbelts in cars are fined, those wearing headscarves may soon get fined if it is up to Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate in France.
As presidential candidates are making a final push for votes, Le Pen vowed on Thursday to issue fines to Muslims who wear headscarves in public.
Three days ahead of the first round of polls on Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron had built what seemed an unassailable lead but Le Pen has eroded the margin and feels she has a real chance of winning the run-off on April 24.
With France’s traditional right- and left-wing parties facing electoral disaster, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is on course to come third and he still believes he can sneak into a run-off.
Let’s take a look who is Marine Le Pen and why does she want to fine Muslims wearing headscarves:
Who is Marine Le Pen?
Lawyer and far-right politician, for most of her life Le Pen was known as the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front Party.
This is the third time Le Pen is fighting her presidential campaign since she took over the leadership of the National Front party in 2011, now known as National Rally, and the second time that she is in a close contest with the incumbent president.
In the 2017 presidential race, she dropped in the second round with 34 per cent of the vote compared to newcomer Macron’s 66 per cent, this time around the race is expected to be a close one.
According to a report by The Telegraph, some polls are placing the gap between the two front-runners will be inside the “margin of error” zone.
According to Daily Mail, ahead of the first round of polls on 10 April, Macron has a slight lead of 54 per cent versus 46 percent for Le Pen.
What did she say about Muslims wearing headscarves?
Speaking to RTL radio, Le Pen explained how her pledge to ban the headscarf in all public spaces would be implemented, saying it would be enforced by police in the same way as seatbelt-wearing in cars.
“People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seat belt. It seems to me that the police are very much able to enforce this measure,” she said.
Le Pen has said she will use referendums to try to avoid constitutional challenges to many of her proposed laws on the basis that they are discriminatory and an infringement on personal freedoms.
Previous legislation in France banning obvious religious symbols in schools or full-face coverings in public was allowed on the basis that it applied to all citizens and in specific settings.
Le Pen’s controversial ideologies and her rise in popularity
Since her defeat in the 2017 presidential elections, Le Pen, 53, has toned down her anti-immigration rhetoric during campaigning this year and has focused instead on household spending, putting her closer than ever to power, polls indicate.
Macron has accused Le Pen of “lying” to voters on social policy, having a “racist” programme aimed at dividing society and showing “complacency” in her ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She has seen a gradual rise in the eyes of the French public. As per The Telegraph, which cites a recent Kantar Public poll for Le Monde and France Info, about 46 per cent of the French now see her as “representing a patriotic Right attached to traditional values”.
With a nine per cent drop since 2019, only 40 per cent are now seeing her as harking from the “racist and xenophobic far-Right”.
Le Pen has promised to reclaim control of borders from the EU.
“One, France will control its own migration policies. Two, foreigners who want to come here will have enough resources to look after their own needs. Three, it’s for us, the French, to decide who can stay and who must leave,” she said.
Regarding immigration, she has maintained only French citizens will have access to welfare benefits.
She has stated that French nationals will be given preference in access to jobs and social housing.
As per The Telegraph, she has maintained that any migrants who stay out of work for more than a year will lose their residency rights. Any illegal immigrants who are deemed a security risk or who commit crimes will be deported.
With inputs from agencies
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