(MENAFN) French lawmakers voiced criticism on Thursday over National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet’s remarks objecting to young visitors wearing headscarves inside the parliament.

"At the very heart of the hemicycle of the National Assembly, where the 2004 law on secularism in schools was in particular voted on, it seems unacceptable to me that young children can wear ostentatious religious signs in the galleries," Braun-Pivet wrote on social media platform X.

Her comments followed a post by a media editor who shared a photo showing several young girls wearing headscarves in the National Assembly. "FIVE VEILED WOMEN, some of whom appear to be VERY YOUNG, are PRESENT in the hemicycle at the National Assembly as visitors," the editor stated.

Braun-Pivet added that she had urged everyone to exercise "extreme vigilance so that this does not happen again."

Lawmakers from the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party strongly criticized the statement. MP Aymeric Caron described it as "Islamophobic," asserting that Braun-Pivet brought shame upon herself by "adding an imaginary rule, disrespectful of the rights of the citizens of this country."

Thomas Portes of LFI added, "Tonight, the President of the National Assembly validates the racist publication of a far-right 'media' outlet that engages every day in hunting Muslims."

Another LFI member, Antoine Leaument, pointed out that there is no law forbidding wearing the veil in the assembly. "In the temple of the French Republic, we do not spread Islamophobia: we uphold public and individual freedoms. Shame on you," he said.

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