New Muslim party aims for French election wins

From the French edition of The Local

A relatively new Muslim political party, that wants to overturn the veil ban, is eyeing up a stronger presence on the French political landscape, announcing on Thursday that it will field candidates in eight areas at next month’s regional elections. The Democratic Union of French Muslims (UDMF) wants to tackle the under-representation of Muslims in French politics. 
 
The group said on Thursday that it would put two candidates forward in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, where the party already succeeded in getting its candidate elected as a councillor last year.It will also put forward candidates in seven other “départements” across the country which cover cities such as Marseille, Lyon and Nice. 

The party’s founder, Nagib Azergui, told French newspaper Le Parisien that he believed the party’s values were compatible with French democracy, much in the same way that France’s Christian Democratic Party manages to separate religion from politics. 

His party’s aim, he told the paper, is “to give a voice to the part of the population that can’t be found in the traditional parties.” Azergui says he doesn’t want France to be governed by Sharia Law and has no intention of “Islamizing” French society.

However the party does have some controversial policies that will not be welcome among French secularists, notably their wish to overturn France’s ban on headscarves in schools and see an increased investment in the Halal food industry to help boost the economy.