In contrast, Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Busslow, said he was “surprised” at the timing and “exploitation” of this report.
The lawyer confirmed that he was dissatisfied with the way the European Anti-fraud Office behaves, stressing that part of the report relates to “old facts dating back more than ten years,” according to French reports.
The competition intensified between the outgoing French presidential candidates, Emmanuel Macron, and his rival, Marine Le Pen, a week before the start of the second round, scheduled for April 24, due to the controversy over the latter’s decision to impose a fine on wearing the headscarf in public places.
Macron quickly rejected the proposal, in an attempt that observers read as an attempt to attract Muslim voters who represent an electoral bloc in the country.
Political researcher and civil activist Haitham Ben Abdallah believes that the accusations leveled at Le Pen by the European Parliament will have a very negative impact on her electoral chances, in addition to her decision to impose fines on headscarves that will cause her to lose a large segment of the electorate because it contradicts the idea of public freedoms.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia” from Paris, Abdullah explained that Le Pen, who won second place in the first round, benefited from the votes of Muslim voters, especially women, who gave their votes to her based on her reassuring discourse on purchasing power and social security and her bias towards the weak classes. .
He explained that the accusations by the European Parliament need urgent clarification, and are a severe and heavy blow to the candidate who is competing strongly for the presidency of the country, and will weaken her fortunes and damage her reputation significantly, especially that it comes days before the start of the second round of elections.
Commenting on Le Pen’s decision, Abdullah says that she has begun to regain her extremist and anti-Islam character, as she promised to impose a fine on veiled women if she wins the presidency, a fine whose dimensions are more symbolic than the amount of the fine in itself. The doorstep of the Elysee.
The political researcher points out that her opponent, Macron, seized this opportunity and supported his open and tolerant rhetoric, which resonates with a large segment of the electorate who has so far been reluctant to vote for him or Le Pen.
Le Pen, the right-wing anti-immigration candidate, said that if elected, she would fine women who wear headscarves in public.
During a visit to the city of Strasbourg in eastern France, on Tuesday, as part of a tour to meet voters, Macron asked a veiled woman whether she was wearing the veil by force or by decision, and the woman replied: “It is completely my choice.”
“This is the best response to the bullshit I’ve been hearing,” Macron replied, in an apparent reference to Le Pen’s plan.
Macron seeks to exploit Le Pen’s insistence on this idea to say that her policies are no different from those of the hardline National Front founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
He also presented himself as a defender of religious freedom, stressing that banning the headscarf would constitutionally mean banning all religious symbols, including the Jewish beret and the cross.
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