(Reuters) A planned hijab ban if French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is elected would come “little by little” and be determined by lawmakers, her allies said on Monday, marking a shift in tone less than a week ahead of the final presidential vote.
The far-right core of Le Pen’s programme has come under closer scrutiny as campaigning enters its final days.
Louis Aliot, the far-right mayor of Perpignan and former life companion of Le Pen, said in an interview with France Inter radio that the hijab ban was one of several political tools to fight “Islamism,” but that its implementation needed to come “progressively.”
The ban should target state-run services first, he said, before being widened “little by little.” “There will be a debate in parliament and then the choice will be made,” he said.
