Emmanuel Macron has been showing his intention to fight against communitarianism for many weeks. "Not at ease", with this term, he now uses that of "separatism". In Mulhouse, this Tuesday, all the stake, for the head of the State, was to show that he does not stick to the words. "We will go very far, because the will of the president is very strong", certifies from the outset the Minister of Housing, Julien Denormandie.
Macron knows that he is advancing on a ridge line. The risk, and the young crusaders in the popular district of Bourtzwiller reminded him of it, is that of stigma. “We talk about Islam all the time. If it's not the burkini, it's another thing. While there are other, much bigger problems, ”they tell him. The left wing of his majority, already jostled, is also sensitive on this point. But the head of state is also expected to turn, on the matter. In particular by the right which the tax of laxity and to which he intends to cut croupiers for the presidential of 2022. "The stake, it is to fall neither in stigmatization, nor in minimization", summarizes the secretary Gabriel Attal.
Faced with the young people of Bourtzwiller, Macron sets this limit: “In the Republic, political Islam has no place. But at the Doller's gymnasium, as a preamble to his presentation, he also believes that "we can have communities in the French Republic", that is "an identity in addition", "a family of thought", "a religion" , " origins ". The term "communities" is not trivial, coming from a President of the Republic. And it is likely to exacerbate criticism from the right. For Macron, "the enemy" is called "separatism", because "these affiliations must never be considered as removal from the Republic".
Show firmness, pre-empt the subject, but without pointing. So, to give substance to this path which he refuses to say "median", preferring the term "republican", the president begins by looking beyond the borders. "I will not let any foreign country nourish, on the soil of the Republic, a separatism, that it is religious, political or identity", he warns, reserving his first concrete proposals to the component "fight against foreign influence".
The Head of State announces the abolition of Teachings of language and culture of origin (Elco) from September 2020 and their replacement by International Teachings in foreign language (EILE). Each year, “80,000 students” take these courses given by teachers designated by the governments of other countries. Negotiations are underway with the nine countries concerned, but stall with Turkey. So much so that, according to a government source, "a formal notice was sent to the Turkish authorities" on Tuesday. An arm wrestling assumed. "We cannot have the laws of Turkey on the soil of France", supports Macron.
Second promise: the gradual end - but without stopping the calendar - of "detached imams" and "chanters" sent by other countries. But also, another Arlesian, the strengthening of the control of foreign funding of places of worship, in order to be able to block suspicious projects. "We need to know where the money comes from, who gets it and what for," said the president.
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Sufficient? The continuation of the announcements, relating to the “republican reconquest”, the organization of the Moslem worship, the fight against the demonstrations of separatism, will come with the wire of new displacements in the weeks to come. The fact remains that its strategy is now reality-proof. And heavy fire from the opposition. "The risk, fears a ministerial adviser, is that the right does not grab the outstretched hand, because their officials go very far, and lose the left. "