Members of the European Parliament in Strasburg have voted to remove parliamentary immunity from Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front in France.
The decision comes in the light of a case brought against Le Pen by French prosecutors over anti-Muslim comments, allegedly made by her. The 44-year-old right-wing politician likened the growing influence of French Muslims to Nazi occupation during the Second World War. During a televised broadcast, she commented that her country was seeing “more and more burqas” and “after that came prayers in the streets”. She added: “There are no tanks, no soldiers, but it is still an occupation and it weighs on people.”
Le Pen, like her father before her, thrives on racial and religious hatred. The National Front breeds hatred, feeds on fear and creates an atmosphere of division in society. Its growth has more to do with fear-mongering and hatred and declining economic conditions, blaming society’s ills on the rise of migrants and Muslims.
The reality is that it is the National Front that is akin to the principles of the Nazi party — instead of targeting Jews, it targets Muslims. It advocates racial superiority over migrants.
What is significant is that the European Parliament decided to remove the immunity clause. Ideally, no public representative should be above the law and should be immune in the first instance.
