French President François Hollande has decided to abandon a bill that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the country's state of emergency.
In a rare address to reporters following the weekly cabinet meeting, Hollande said Wednesday he had no choice. France's two houses of parliament disagree on the bill and a compromise "seems out of reach," he said.
"I very much regret that attitude."
"Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution," he said. "I have decided to end this debate."
The plan's withdrawal is a major embarrassment for the Socialist president, who had unveiled it in a solemn address to parliament at the grand palace of Versailles only three days after the attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.
Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation after that announcement in November. But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure.
Opponents of the measure say it would create two classes of citizens — dual nationals who could lose their French citizenship and French citizens who cannot — in opposition to the principle of equality set out in France's constitution.
Other criticisms included that it would be an inefficient and purely symbolic measure.
more
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/france-drops-terrorism-citizenship-bill-1.3511865
In a rare address to reporters following the weekly cabinet meeting, Hollande said Wednesday he had no choice. France's two houses of parliament disagree on the bill and a compromise "seems out of reach," he said.
"I very much regret that attitude."
"Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution," he said. "I have decided to end this debate."
The plan's withdrawal is a major embarrassment for the Socialist president, who had unveiled it in a solemn address to parliament at the grand palace of Versailles only three days after the attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.
Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation after that announcement in November. But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure.
Opponents of the measure say it would create two classes of citizens — dual nationals who could lose their French citizenship and French citizens who cannot — in opposition to the principle of equality set out in France's constitution.
Other criticisms included that it would be an inefficient and purely symbolic measure.
more
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/france-drops-terrorism-citizenship-bill-1.3511865