The petty obsessions of politicians — not those of ordinary French citizens — serve as convenient smokescreens to conceal the country’s real problems: a lost economic compass, a total absence of political direction, and a Republic adrift.
The “small problem” this time is the veil — that “enormous tree” hiding the ills of the French Republic. A mere piece of fabric that a certain political elite simply cannot stand. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin once threatened to resign if the government backed down on banning the veil in public spaces.
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal suggested “tracking down” veiled girls in the streets and punishing their parents. Now, it is the turn of the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, to display her hostility toward this piece of cloth.
Braun-Pivet forgets the skeletons in her closet
On the evening of Wednesday, November 5, Braun-Pivet made a point of commenting on a photo showing young girls in the Assembly’s visitors’ gallery. “At the very heart of the National Assembly chamber, where the 2004 law on secularism in schools was passed, I find it unacceptable that young children should be allowed to wear conspicuous religious symbols in the galleries. We had never faced such a situation before,” she declared.
She then invoked “Republican coherence,” calling for “extreme vigilance to ensure this does not happen again” — as if France were facing a crime against the nation, against the Republic and its values.
The real crime against democracy, however, is the murky political maneuvering that allowed Braun-Pivet to retain her position as Speaker even after her party, the presidential majority, was crushed in the 2022 snap legislative elections.
The “veil question”: a political fixation
Many politicians have rushed to join the debate over the veil. Strangely, it is the centrist bloc — Macron’s camp — that seems most agitated on this issue (Darmanin, Attal, etc.), while the far right merely whispers, fans the flames, and then reaps the electoral rewards.
It was Julien Odoul, a National Rally (RN) MP, who baited the Speaker by posting on X (formerly Twitter) a photo showing a group of young visitors in the Assembly, some of them wearing headscarves.
Braun-Pivet jumped headfirst into the RN’s trap. That party, as every poll shows, is the main beneficiary of hysteria around immigration, the veil, and the supposed “Muslim takeover.” The left — especially La France Insoumise (LFI) — is fuming at what it sees as a toxic manipulation. Eric Coquerel, the LFI chair of the Assembly’s Finance Committee, accused the Speaker of “playing into the hands” of the far-right website Frontières, which helped circulate the controversial photo.
It bears remembering that Frontières was founded by Erik Tegnér, a pundit on CNews who traffics in the poison of hatred. “You are thus endorsing an ultra-right media outlet that uses the accreditation you maintained for it not to report on parliamentary proceedings, but to racially target young visitors to the Assembly on social media,” Coquerel charged.
A fake problem — and a fake law
Coquerel then directly challenged the Speaker: “Can you tell me which Assembly rule prohibits visitors from wearing religious symbols?” He wasn’t alone. Paris lawyer Julia Courvoisier expressed similar outrage: “Is it forbidden by law or by regulation? That’s the only question that matters. I believe it isn’t — so I don’t see why these young people should have been barred from entering their National Assembly.”
This is not the first time Macron’s camp has gotten tangled up in legal debates over the veil in Parliament. In 2020, Maryam Pougetoux, vice president of the UNEF student union, sparked controversy when she appeared — veiled — before a commission studying the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on youth. The presidential majority was deeply divided over her appearance, while the right and far right remained relatively subdued.
What the law actually says
A look at the legislative framework shows how hollow this political posturing really is. Article 8 of the National Assembly’s internal rules does not address the veil or secularism at all. “To be admitted to the galleries, the public must dress appropriately, remain seated, uncovered, and silent; they may consult parliamentary documents and take notes,” the text states — nothing more.
Richard Ferrand, now president of the Constitutional Council, said on Public Sénat in 2019, while serving as Speaker of the Assembly: “Wearing clothing that expresses a religious affiliation is not, in itself, prohibited. Only if the presiding officer deems such attire likely to disturb order or the proper conduct of debates may measures be taken.”
Tolerance, in other words, was the prevailing approach — which is why veiled female MPs and foreign guests have been seen in the Palais Bourbon before. That era, however, appears to be ending. Braun-Pivet tolerates much — from MPs’ procedural shenanigans to Israel’s war crimes (she visited Israel in October 2023 while conspicuously snubbing Palestine) — but not the veil.
The real issue: a society at war with itself
The 2004 law on secularism, to which Braun-Pivet refers, bans “conspicuous religious symbols” in public schools, middle schools, and high schools — not in the National Assembly.
For this latest controversy to fall under that law, it would have to be proven that the visit was part of a school activity, meaning the girls in question would have violated an educational regulation, not a parliamentary one.
Ultimately, what truly disturbs many is not legality but symbolism: the veil itself — whether worn by minors, students, or consenting adults. This small piece of fabric, seen as foreign, supposedly carries ominous messages and, to put it bluntly, “stains the face of the Republic.” That is the heart of the issue — nothing more, nothing less.
But no law will erase what lies in people’s minds. France must make peace with itself, with its diversity, and with what it has become — a transformation that is now irreversible.
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