Hege Storhaug, HRS
Frankrikes yngre generasjoner muslimer stiller strengere krav om religiøse særordninger enn de eldre generasjonene. Dette mønsteret er ikke særegent for den franske republikken, men en gjenganger Europa over. Men Frankrike er ”Europamester” i sekularitet. Derfor blir kollisjonen mellom religionsfunderte særkrav og den gjennomsekulære franske staten kraftigere enn i andre europeiske land.
Nasjonal Front, som under Jean-Marie Le Pens dager lå så langt til høyre at det tippet over i det brune, har blitt mer stuerene under datteren Marine Le Pen. Dermed utfordrer hun også konservative Sarkozy sin velgermasse. Dette er antakelig den mest sentrale årsaken til at kampen om den franske sjelen gjennom islams økende makt og derav integreringsproblemer, seiler opp som valgkampens fremste tema.
The issue of France’s Muslims moved front and center into the presidential campaign with the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, excluding on Saturday any special indulgences for halal meat or separate swimming hours for Muslim women in public pools.
Echoing his 2007 campaign, Sarkozy insisted that French civilization must prevail in France.
Muslims, and immigration, are constant themes in recent French presidential races, but the topic is rising to the fore with vehemence as the April 22 first-round vote nears — 50 days from now. The final round is May 6.
Critics say Sarkozy is ogling supporters of extreme-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who is third in polls after front-runner Francois Hollande, a Socialist, and the conservative president. Le Pen, who succeeds party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, her father, has worked to erase the image of the party as anti-Semitic — but now castigates what she says is the profile of Islam in France.
Sarkozy understreket i valgkampen som foregikk i Bordeaux på lørdag at det “ikke er plass for fremmedfrykt i republikken, ikke plass for rasisme… Det er ikke plass for svømmebasseng med timer for menn og timer for kvinner.”
There are an estimated 5 million Muslims in France, the largest such population in Western Europe, and the latest generation is making increasing demands that the country accommodate needs set out by their religion or their customs.
«There is no place in the republic for xenophobia, there is no place for racism … There is no place for pools with hours for men and hours for women,» Sarkozy told a rally Saturday in Bordeaux.
Det sosialistiske lederskapet går i strupen på Sarkozy. De mener Sarkozy ”stigmatiserer” muslimer og gjør dem til ”syndebukker”. Et av temaene som har utløst sterke følelser er hvorvidt innvandrere skal kunne stemme ved lokalvalg etter fem års opphold i Frankrike.
The team of Hollande, the Socialist candidate, castigated as «sickening» a remark Friday by Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who said that giving foreigners the right to vote in local elections would open the way to halal meat in school canteens and burqa-style bathing suits in public pools.
Sarkozy makes «scapegoats, stigmatizes» Muslims, said Manuel Valls, communications chief for Hollande’s campaign.
Hollande has proposed allowing all foreigners residing in France legally for five years to have the right to vote in local elections. The Socialist candidate has made it a policy to avoid implicating himself directly in divisive issues, leaving responses to his lieutenants.
At a rally Saturday in Dijon, Hollande simply reiterated that foreigners should be allowed to vote «without fearing for our citizenship or our national cohesion or our freedom.»
Sosialisten Hollande leder på meningsmålingen, men Sarkozy drar innpå. Det sies at Sarkozy ikke vil ha sjanse til å vinne valgets andre runde i mai.
The French president, who declared his candidacy just weeks ago, on Feb. 15, is narrowing the gap with Hollande but, polls show, would lose by a wide margin in second-round balloting.
«There is no taboo subject,» Sarkozy said, suggesting that it is not in the nation’s interest to be politically correct about immigration or about what some Muslims seek to conform to their religious beliefs or cultural mores.