By Morocco World News
By Morocco World News
New York, June 17, 2012
Claude Gueant, the former French Interior Minister, failed to secure a seat in the French Assmblee Nationale, during the second round of legislative elections held on Sunday.
During his tenure as Interior Minister, Gueant enacted a number of controversial laws, the most important of which is the Circular Gueant. This circular banned foreign students who finish their degrees from working in the country.
In addition to this drastic measure he intended to impose on foreign students, especially those coming from the Maghreb, Claude Gueant revived the controversy surrounding the clash of civilizations and anti-Islamism when he stated last February that “all cultures are not of equal value” under his ruling party’s republican principles.
During a symposium organized by a right-leaning student group at the National Assembly, Gueant said that “contrary to what the left’s relativist ideology says, for us, all civilizations are not of equal value.”
He criticized the French Socialist Party for not having voted for a legislation that banned the Muslim face veil.
“The majority voted to ban the full veil and the Socialist Party did not vote.”
“Another example is street prayer. I heard a very important socialist leader saying that this didn’t bother anyone, but it does bother a lot of the French, it bothers a particular principle of secularism. And we banned prayer in the street [and this is] an expression of civilization,” Guéant said.
“In regard to the values held by France and I believe by all republican parties in France, there are civilizations that we prefer.
Other big figures of France’s political life have also failed to keep their seat in the parliament, such as Michèle Alliot-Marie, Jack Lang, François Bayrou and Segolene Royale.
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