PRESIDENT Francois Hollande will drop plans for legislation that would have seen convicted terrorists stripped of French citizenship.
France’s two houses of parliament disagreed on the move, which would have applied to people with dual nationality, and compromise “seems out of reach”, Hollande said.
The proposal, which he submitted in the aftermath of the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, prompted a heated political dispute in France.
The far right applauded the move but opponents of the measure say it would create two classes of citizens – dual nationals who could lose their citizenship, and French citizens who could not – in opposition to the principle of equality set out in the constitution.
International law does not permit a person stateless to be left stateless.
The same Bill aimed to introduce provision for an extended state of emergency into the constitution .
Under the current law, dating from 1955, the state of emergency lasts 12 days and can be extended for an indefinite period by a vote of the parliament.
Hollande said he was committed to “ensuring our country’s security and protecting the French from terrorism” but warned that the threat "remains higher than ever".
The country’s state of emergency, declared by the government on the night of the attacks, was recently extended to May 26. It extends some police powers of search and arrest and limits public gatherings, among other changes
The clause for confiscating passports hit a dead end last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house earlier.To change the constitution, the government's proposal needed to be approved by each house of parliament in exactly the same terms.
"It's going to revive the perception of a president who is not determined, who lacks authority, whose hand is shaking," said Frederic Dabi, of pollster Ifop. "It also reinforces the feeling of a term during which reforms have dragged on, got bogged down."
Putting forward his plan three days after the shootings and bombings of November 13, Hollande had appeared both resolute and consensual, as the measure was favoured by the right. Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation at the rare joint meeting of both houses in Versailles.
But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure.
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