Paris: In response to a confrontation with an far-right lawmaker who shouted "Back to Africa" at a black aide, the French National Assembly voted on Friday to punish him with a 15-day suspension and pay cuts.
Recently elected National Rally member Gregoire de Fornas has denied that the blast was a personal racist attack and has said he was referencing a ship in the Mediterranean that was carrying rescued migrants. was.
Under its rules, which generally uphold lawmakers' right to free speech during session, the lower house of the National Assembly recommends the harshest punishment imaginable.
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Only twice in the history of Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic in France, which began in 1958, has an MP received such condemnation.
The incident comes at a time when immigration tensions are at their highest and President Emmanuel Macron's administration has promised a new course of action amid allegations that it has failed to stop new arrivals or deport people whose residences The request has been refused.
Carlos Martens Bilongo of the left-leaning France Unbod Party (LFI) questioned the administration on Thursday about SOS Mediterranei NGO's request for assistance in finding a port for the ship, which recently rescued 234 migrants at sea.
Many in the legislature were shocked as de Fornas, a victor de Fournas from the department of south-west Gironde, said, "It must go back to Africa!"
The pronouns "it" and "he" have the same pronunciation in French, leading some to believe that de Fornas was specifically targeting Bilongo.
After the vote, the Speaker of the Assembly, Yael Braun-Pivett, declared that racism is the negation of the republican values that bind us together.
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The penalty was announced as the RN was getting ready to elect a new leader to replace Marine Le Pen on Saturday. Le Pen supported his MP on Twitter, writing that "the controversy created by our political opponents is clear and will not fool the French people."
Le Pen has been working for years to abandon his party's extremist views and prove that it can unite voters and rule as a mainstream party. Le Pen challenged Macron in this year's presidential election and then propelled his party to its best performance in subsequent legislative elections with 89 lawmakers.
Acknowledging the "gaffe" by de Fournas, he told reporters on Friday that "if a comment that lacks finesse justifies suspension from parliament, there is room for a lot of people in the assembly".
De Fornas replied on Twitter, "I am completely innocent ... but respect the institution, and I accept its decision". De Fournas left the Chamber just after the vote.
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"I've always been convinced that RN is racist, and that only proves it once again," Bilongo said in response to BFM television. The only other candidate is party veteran and former Le Pen teammate Louis Alit, 27-year-old Jordan Bardella, who is the clear favorite to win the party leadership election on Saturday.
After stepping down as party leader, Le Pen will focus on leading the RN group in parliament. This would give him a strong platform for a possible fourth presidential bid in 2027.