Albertville: 5 minutes to understand the controversy surrounding a Muslim school

When a controversy arises in the Senate.

The Palais Bourbon gave the green light Monday evening to a last-minute amendment to the bill on separatism, to allow the prefect to oppose the opening of schools out of contract supported by a foreign state "hostile" to the Republic.

A text far from trivial, after a weekend marked the imbroglio around the construction of a private primary school in Albertville (Savoie).

Where is this school project?

Filed in 2019 by the Islamic Confederation Millî Görüs (CIMG), the building permit for this private primary school was first refused by the unlabeled mayor of Albertville, Frédéric Burnier-Framboret.

Based on a provision relating to parking spaces in the Town Planning Code, the elected official had thus blocked a project against which he was fiercely opposed.

Except that last April 9, the administrative court of Grenoble finally dismissed the councilor and validated the building permit for the Muslim school: it gives the town hall two months to deliver the precious sesame for this establishment called "out of contract" , which is to accommodate 400 students.

“France is a country of law and justice has proven us right.

We are Muslims but also French citizens.

Why would our project pose a problem, when there are many Catholic and Jewish schools?

We are not Islamists ”, rejoiced in our columns Engin Seller, the local president of the CIMG.

What do we blame this school for?

In a forum on the Figaro site, the mayor of the former Olympic city first points to the risk of competition with other establishments in his city.

This project "disproportionate (...) risks endangering certain classes, and even, in the long term, republican schools in Albertville, because, with 400 pupils and 16 classes, this new school would represent a quarter of the 1,200 pupils of our country. common, ”he denounced.

But it is above all the instigators of the project that pose the problem: the Islamic association Millî Görüs.

In the viewfinder of Gerald Darmanin, she is accused by the Minister of the Interior of defending "a political Islam".

Owner of the mosque which has been controversial for several weeks in Strasbourg, this rigorous organization, which has ambiguous links with the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, did not want to sign the Charter of Islam in France.

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Frédéric Burnier-Framboret also said he was "helpless" to "counter the establishment of associations or companies led by foreign powers, which promote a crystallization of identity in the heart of our territories".

What does Millî Görüs answer?

She disagrees with these accusations.

“It's just a school project.

We have a vocation to make requests to enter into a contract ”, reminds the Parisian Fatih Sarikir, president of the Islamic Confederation Millî Görüs France and secretary general of the French Council of Muslim worship.

"It cannot legally open its doors without the prior agreement of the rectorate, the prefect, and the public prosecutor," he underlines, denouncing excess language.

“So far, no director has been appointed.

There is nothing to label us as a separatist.

We spill this word all over the place.

We want the authorities to take a position on concrete facts ”, regrets Fatih Sarikir.

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What will the new amendment voted in the Senate change?

All weekend, the president of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez took up the torch of the sling.

“As President of the Republic, I therefore urge you to bring your support to prevent the installation of this school in Albertville on our territory.

It would be dramatic if within our own country, the President of the Republic was powerless to enforce the principles that he himself set as a guideline for our country, ”he wrote in a letter addressed to the President of France. the Republic, and published on the Dauphiné Libéré website.

The missive has visibly found its recipient since Monday, Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter filed on "request" from Emmanuel Macron, "an amendment to fight against foreign interference through the opening of schools out of contract".

During the examination of the Bill consolidating the respect of the principles of the Republic in the Senate, I tabled at the request of @ EmmanuelMacron an amendment to fight against foreign interference through the opening of schools outside contract.

https://t.co/BipufY9LFX

- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) April 12, 2021

This last-minute amendment will allow the prefect to oppose the opening of a private establishment "for reasons drawn from France's international relations or the defense of its fundamental interests", according to the text, subamended by the chairman of the Senate Law Commission François-Noël Buffet (LR).

"We do not feel targeted by this kind of amendment, we even agree, from the moment when the prefects already have the necessary powers to oppose the opening of an establishment", repeats Fatih Sarikir .

The amendment was widely adopted, with 243 votes in favor and 28 against.