Far-right French lawmaker suspended after yelling ‘go back to Africa’

Far-right French lawmaker Grégoire de Fournas has been banned from parliament for shouting “go back to Africa” after a black colleague from the far left talked about migrants.

France’s National Assembly in a rare move voted to ban de Fournas for 15 days from attending parliament sessions and to cut half of his compensation for two months, the maximum sanction possible under the parliament’s rules.

“We must not fragilize our democracy,” said National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet, after she ordered the lawmaker to leave the premises of the parliament.

De Fournas, a newly elected member of the Marine Le Pen’s opposition National Rally (RN), left the chamber immediately after the vote, saying on Twitter that “I am totally innocent... but respectful of the institution, and I accept” the decision.

He made the comment while left-wing MP Carlos Martens Bilongo was speaking about the challenges faced by migrants on a rescue boat of NGO SOS Méditerranée.

He also argued that his comment was not directed toward Bilongo, but toward the migrants from Africa currently stranded on an NGO boat in the Mediterranean, which Bilongo was talking about.

In response, Bilongo said he was born in France and the remark was “shameful.”

“Today it’s come back to the color of my skin. I was born in France, I am a French MP,” said Bilongo.

He also told BFM television what he felt for the RN.

“I have always been deeply convinced the RN is racist, and this only proves it once again.”

When de Fournas made the remark that puzzled speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet into inquiring to know who had made the comment, soon MPs protested by shouting “out! out! out!” resulting in the suspension of the session.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said there was “no room for racism” and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the MP should resign.

However, Le Pen’ who has been working for years to shed her party’s extremist views, criticized the suspension and called it a breach of freedom of expression.

“This is a political trial that condemns a political idea: the one that considers that NGO boats should drop off migrants not in Europe but in the ports of departure,” she tweeted. “The controversy created by our political opponents is obvious and will not fool the French people.”

Later, de Fournas apologized to Bilongo for “the misunderstanding” his comment had caused.

It is still not clear whether de Fournas was referring to the NGO boat story or directly toward Bilongo.

The centrist government and left lawmakers pointed out that de Fournas’s comment and his party’s reaction have revealed the “true face” of his party and that they really have not changed.

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