13 May 2021
French president Emmanuel Macron’s party has pulled support from one of its candidates in a local election after she wore a hijab in a campaign flyer.
Stanislas Guerini, the head of La République En Marche, President Macron’s party, said that they would not support Sara Zemmahi if she did not produce new campaign promotional material without the hijab.
Although wearing the Islamic headscarf as a political candidate is not prohibited by law in France, the En Marche leader argued that the party would prohibit any religious symbols from being affiliated with their political movement.
“I say things very clearly. With the governing bodies of the party, I set a political line. We do not question the law. But the law also says that political movements can decide on the support given to their candidates,” Guerini told the French radio station RTL on Tuesday.