Assemblée Nationale suspends session over uproar
after 'back to Africa' outburst from far-right MP
Debate was suspended after an MP from the far-right
Rassemblement National made the remark. 'Racism has no place in our democracy,'
responded Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
Le Monde
with AFP
Published
on November 3, 2022 at 18h51, updated at 21h49 on November 3, 2022
A session
of France's Assemblée Nationale was thrown into turmoil on Thursday, November
3, after a far-right MP was accused of yelling "back to Africa" to a Black
colleague posing a question on migrant arrivals to the government.
Carlos
Martens Bilongo of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) was questioning the
government on the request by the SOS Méditerranée NGO for Paris' help in
finding a port for 234 migrants rescued at sea in recent days. "They
should go back to Africa!" interrupted Gregoire de Fournas, a newly
elected member of the far-right, anti-immigration Rassemblement National (RN).
The
outburst sparked yells of condemnation, not least because in French the
pronouns "he" and "they" are pronounced the same,
suggesting that Mr. de Fournas might have been targeting Mr. Bilongo directly.
The
incident came as President Emmanuel Macron's government is promising a new
crackdown on immigration amid accusations of failing to stem new arrivals or
deport those whose residency requests are denied.
'No place
for racism'
Assemblée
Nationale President Yael Braun-Pivet suspended the session after demanding to
know who had made the comment. "Racism has no place in our
democracy," responded Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, urging the assembly
to sanction the far-right MP. A member of Mr. Macron's entourage said the
president was "hurt" by the "intolerable" comments.
Mr. de
Fournas later defended his comment, telling BFM television that the
Rassemblement national wants a halt to all illegal immigration after a
surge in the number of people trying to reach France from Africa in recent
years. He accused La France Insoumise of a "manipulation"
and his party also denied any personal attack against Mr. Bilongo, a teacher
who was born in Paris. Mr. De Fournas later apologized to Mr. Bilongo for
"the misunderstanding my comments caused" and if he was hurt by them.
RN leader
Marine Le Pen stood by her MP, tweeting; "The controversy created by our
political adversaries is crude and will not trick the French". Jordan
Bardella, who is favorite to succeed her as party leader at a congress this
weekend, insisted that the MP had meant to evoke the return of boats to African
ports and accused LFI and the government of "extreme dishonesty". But
LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted that the comments were "beyond
intolerable" and that the MP should be kicked out of the Assemblée.
A
parliamentary committee will meet Friday to discuss the incident, which could
see Mr. de Fournas punished with a temporary exclusion from the Assemblée.
R. Macron's
centrist Renaissance party will refuse to attend further sessions unless the
council issues a "heavy penalty", its vice-president in parliament
Sylvain Maillard said on Twitter. The ruling party failed to win an overall
majority in the legislative elections, leading to tensions as Macron's
government seeks to push key bills through the legislature.
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