French President Emmanuel Macron has in a landmark speech vowed to resist “political Islam,” which he said is a growing and significant threat to the French Republic.
Macron made the remarks during a press conference at the Elysee Palace to unveil his policy response to the Yellow Vest protests after a three month national debate.
The ‘Gilets Jaunes’ movement was initially founded over the increase to fuel costs with many rural French people complaining that they were unable to make ends meet as a result. They have grown exponentially with dreadful scenes in iconic French cities with many accusing French Police of brutality towards them.
“Political Islam wants to secede from our republic,” he said, asking the government to be “intractable” against it. “We are talking about people who, in the name of a religion, pursue a political project,” he said.
He said the control of funds from abroad to some organisations should also be strengthened.
Macron also argued that France’s 1905 laws on secularism have been effective and should continue to be implemented.
“We must not hide when we talk about secularism. We do not really talk about secularism. We talk about the communitarianism that has settled in certain neighborhoods of the republic,” he said, referring to Muslim communities in France.
Under significant pressure Macron announced a rise in the minimum wage and scuttled the tax hikes. The announcement on Political Islam was totally unexpected but may in part be due to the growing poll number of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally that has promised to clamp down on Political Islam and immigration.
In the first major domestic news conference of his entire presidency Macron promised to accelerate his reform programme but deliver it in a less aggressive manner in attempts to appeal to the notoriously powerful French Trade Union movement.
“I want (tax) cuts for people who work by significantly reducing income taxes,” said Macron.
He said the cuts would be worth five billion euros and financed by eliminating corporate tax breaks, longer work hours and reductions in public spending.
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