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A French far-right lawmaker has been suspended by the country’s parliament for 15 days after making racist remarks in the country’s legislature, the maximum penalty that has drawn condemnation across the political spectrum.
Carlos Martens Bilongo, a black man, questioned the French government on Thursday over migrants stranded at sea, and Gregoire de Fornas of the far-right National Rally party. Fournas) shouted “return to Africa” to his MPs.
Mr Bilongo said he was “deeply hurt” by the remark.
Other politicians, including the French president, said they were alarmed by Mr. de Fornas’ remarks, which raised new questions about xenophobia on the far right and other parts of French society.
His words immediately caused an uproar in the National Assembly, causing the President of the Legislative Council to suspend the meeting.
On Friday, members of the National Assembly’s governing body handed the maximum penalty to Mr. De Fornas, suspending him for 15 days.
Mr de Fournas tweeted that he was “innocent” and that the decision was “very unfair”.
Because of the acoustic problems, it was unclear whether Mr. de Fournas was saying that Mr. Bilongo should return to Africa or that the migrants should return to Africa.
Mr de Fornas said he was referring to migrants who were rescued at sea heading for Europe, not his MPs.
“I fully support my comments about our country’s anarchic immigration policy,” he tweeted on Friday.
Either way, the remarks echo the familiar diatribe of blacks being told to return to Africa, regardless of where they were born or have citizenship, French anti-racism groups stressed.
The French group SOS Racisme called it “the real face of the far right: racism”.
Dominique Sopo, the group’s president, said whatever Mr. De Fornas said, “obviously, they were extremely violent remarks”.
Mr Bilongo, a member of the far-left French party Indomitable, attended a rally near the National Assembly convened by his party on Friday to show support.
“I’m torn between joy and sadness,” Mr Bilongo said. “Because I got so many messages of support overnight…because I see all these faces here expressing their support for me.”
After the incident, he said, he received thousands of messages from people telling him they had heard similar comments in their daily lives.
He praised the outrageous immediate response shown by the overwhelming majority of lawmakers from across the political spectrum.
The Movement Against Racism and People’s Friendship described Mr De Fornas’ remarks as “disgusting”.
“Despite some efforts to normalize this far-right party, national rallies persist, which is deeply racist and xenophobic,” it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron was shocked by remarks he considered “unacceptable” inside and outside parliament, the Elysee presidency said.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he was “deeply shocked”, telling BFM television it was the first time in his 15-year political career that he had heard such “shameful” words in parliament.
National Rally is the party of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who lost her third French presidential bid to Mr Macron in April.
Still, subsequent legislative elections in France brought a major breakthrough for the party, which won 89 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, up from eight.
Ms Le Pen tweeted that Mr De Fournas was “apparently talking about migrants being transported by NGOs in boats”.
“The controversy caused by our political opponents is serious and will not deceive the French,” she said.
For the past decade, Ms Le Pen has worked to make her party more popular with the mainstream right, working to dismantle the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism under her now ostracized father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. name.
Members of the national rally will gather in Paris on Saturday to choose a new party leader.
Ms Le Pen has said she plans to focus on leading party members in the National Assembly.
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