Paris (AFP)
"Obscurantist", "I pity you" ... the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer and the leader of the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon strongly apostrophized on Tuesday about secularism, during an exchange of tweets highlighting the notion of "Islamo-leftism".
It all started with questions in the government, where LFI deputy Alexis Corbière accused the Minister of Education of "speaking like the extreme right", in a question he then posted on Twitter.
"It is time that you stop lying and defaming to hide your ambiguities about secularism," replied on the social network Mr. Blanquer, adding: "You damage the republican idea by insulting its defenders. Be clear on the substance and calm on the form ".
Mr. Mélenchon's response was not long in coming: "Blaning the obscurantist wants to ban certain research in sociology. He accuses: Islamo-leftism! Can he say what that means?", He launched , adding that "this private school activist does not tolerate contradiction".
"And if you calm down Jean-Luc Mélenchon? Your outrage escapes no one. But it does not create a right for you to lie, insult or defamation", replied Mr. Blanquer immediately.
"Get out of the ambiguity about secularism and you will feel better, calmer and more republican," he added.
Immediate reaction from Mr. Mélenchon: "I pity you. You are losing your temper because you have been unmasked by Alexis Corbière. Your excesses and slanders attest to your panic," he said.
On October 22, Mr. Blanquer denounced "Islamo-leftism" which, according to him, is wreaking havoc at the university, in particular by targeting the student union Unef and La France Insoumise, a statement which sparked a lively emotion of the Conference of University Presidents.
Mr. Blanquer then pointed out all forms of "intellectual complicity" in crimes like that of Professor Samuel Paty, murdered for showing caricatures of Mohammed.
© 2020 AFP