PARIS: Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday a bill that would strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs to safeguard France from radical Islamists and ensure respect for French values — one of President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark projects.
The vote in the lower house was the first critical hurdle for the legislation that has been long in the making after two weeks of intense debate. The bill passed 347 to 151 with 65 abstentions.
The wide-ranging bill that covers most aspects of French life has been hotly contested by some Muslims, lawmakers and others who fear the state is intruding on essential freedoms and pointing a finger at Islam, the nation’s No. 2 religion. But it breezed through a chamber in which Macron’s centrist party has a majority.
The legislation gained added urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October followed by a deadly attack on a basilica in Nice. The bill known as Art. 18 is known as the ’’Paty law,” named…