TerrorismFrench government abandons plan to strip terrorists of French citizenship
The French government has decided to abandon plans to strip convicted terrorists with dual nationality of their French citizenship and deport them.French president Francois Hollande also wanted to make the state of emergency, which gives the police special powers and which was imposed for three months after the November attacks, a permanent feature of the constitution, but the government was forced to abandon this proposal, too, in the face of stiff opposition.
The French government has decided to abandon plans to strip convicted terrorists with dual nationality of their French citizenship and deport them.
The controversial proposal, which was to be added to France’s constitution, had divided Francois Hollande’s governing Socialist Party and was opposed by the center-right opposition.
In December, justice minister Christiane Taubira resigned in opposition to the measure, tweeting afterward: “Sometimes to resist is to stay. Sometimes to resist is to leave.”
The Local reports that the constitutional change was proposed in the wake of the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris which left 130 dead and hundreds injured.
The nationality clause was not the only proposed constitutional change which the government initially proposed and then was forced to abandon in the face of stiff opposition. Hollande also wanted to make the state of emergency, which gives the police special powers and which was imposed for three months after the November attacks, a permanent feature of the constitution.
Hollande, after meeting last Thursday with the heads of both houses of the French parliament, announced that his government would not push for a vote on the proposal.
“A compromise appears out of reach,” Hollande said. He sought to blame the main opposition party, Les Républicains, led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I also note that a section of the opposition is hostile to any review of the constitution. It’s an attitude I deeply regret,” Hollande added.
Hollande stressed that he would not deviate from commitments to “ensure the security of our country.”
Changes to France’s constitution must be approved by three-fifths of French MPs and senators. A special session of both houses were to convene in Versailles next month to vote on the issue, but the government announced that the special session has no been canceled.
French law forbids stripping French nationals of their citizenship if it would leave them stateless, but those who have acquired French citizenship and are convicted of treason or terrorism can lose it. Since 1996, the measure has been applied only to thirteen naturalized people with terrorism convictions. The government’s proposal would have expanded the punitive measure to individuals with dual nationality who were born in France.
