PARIS
Robert Chardon, the mayor of a small town in the southeast of France, is sending out tweets with the message: "We must ban the Muslim faith in France."
Chardon is mayor of Venelles, a town near Aix-en-Provence with a population of 8,000. He represents the Union for a Popular Movement party, one of the largest conservative parties in France, and that of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. He is also vice president of the Organization of Municipalities around Aix-en-Provence.
Since Thursday, he has been sending out tweets with an anti-Muslim message.
"We also need a Marshall Plan to send Muslims to countries where the religion is practiced," he said in his tweets.
According to him, Islam belonged to the Maghreb and France should welcome more of its "brothers" among the Oriental Christians.
He also said France's 1905 secularism law -- which guarantees freedom of religion -- should be removed and "the republic should promote the practice of the Christian faith."
Chardon began his anti-Islam and anti-Muslim campaign while on sick leave; he is reportedly under treatment for mouth cancer.
He told the French daily Le Monde that it was during his treatments that the idea to tweet his anti-Muslim thoughts dawned upon him. "It's the only solution for most of France's problems," he said.
Under the French law, Chardon could be held liable for criminal prosecution for making such remarks that hurt the minority Muslim community's sentiments in France.
Abdallah Zekri, president of the National Observatory against Islamophobia, denounced Chardon's comments, describing them as "unacceptable" and as a breach of France' secularism "that grants citizens the freedom of belief".
"It is not up to a racist mayor, who knows nothing about religions to decide such a thing," Zekri told Anadolu Agency.
He urged French authorities and Sarkozy to declare their "clear" position regarding the mayor's remarks.
Sarkozy via Twitter condemned the mayor's comments, adding that secularism recognized the right of individuals to practice their own religion.
Union for a Popular Movement deputy and mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, also tweeted that an exclusion procedure against Chardon was underway.
"The remarks of Venelles mayor are intolerable and incoherent, he was immediately suspended, an exclusion procedure is underway," Estrosi tweeted.
"The Mayor of Venelles has no place in the UMP," tweeted Jean-Claude Gaudin, the party’s senator for Marseille.
