The French parliament was suspended after a far-Right MP in Marine Le Pen’s party was accused of shouting “back to Africa” to a black colleague on Thursday. As Carlos Martens Bilongo of the Left-wing France Unbowed party (La France Insoumise) was asking a question on migration, he was interrupted by Gregoire de Fournas, a newly-elected member.
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“They should go back to Africa!” Gregoire de Fournas said.
Following the comment, angry scenes were seen in the French parliament as Yael Braun-Pivet, the national assembly speaker, suspended the session after demanding to know who had made the comment.
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“Racism has no place in our democracy,” Elisabeth Borne, French prime minister said.
{{/usCountry}}“Racism has no place in our democracy,” Elisabeth Borne, French prime minister said.
{{/usCountry}}Gregoire de Fournas later said that the comment was made owning to his party's demand to halt to all illegal immigration after a surge in the number of people trying to reach France from Africa in recent years.
“They understood, which I find hard to believe, that I was talking about the MP himself, which is totally false,” he said.
France leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted that the comments were “beyond intolerable” and that the MP should be thrown out of the National Assembly.