French President Emmanuel Macron wants to end France’s 19-month state of emergency by effectively turning it into a permanent reality.
France has been in a state of emergency since the Nov. 13, 2015 terror attack in Paris, which killed 130 people. Lawyers and activists now warn that a proposed bill would essentially make all the state of emergency measures law of the land.
Macron’s bill would turn warrantless property searches and house arrests into common police practice. Banning protest marches, shutting down places of worship suspected of sharing extremist views and electronic tagging for surveillance purposes are other powers police would be granted under the proposed law.
“They tell us we’re ending the state of emergency, but they are actually making it eternal. It’s an intellectual scam,” Marie-Jane Ody, vice president of a union representing judges, told French newspaper Le Figaro in a June 8 article. “Imagine a fascist-like group rises to power. All the legal instruments would be in place to commit abuse.”
Macron’s newly-formed La République en Marche (Republic on the Move) is projected to win at least 400 seats in the 577-seat parliament after the first round of voting Sunday. (RELATED: Macron Secures Another Landslide Win In Parliamentary Elections)
A parliamentary majority gives Macron the ability to pass legislation with little interference from lawmakers.
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