Kesher Talk

The Muslim vote in Frace: A UPI dispatch shows the Muslim vote in France is of more consequence than the one here (despite what Grover Norquist would have you believe):

as politicians gear up for this spring's presidential and legislative elections, few can afford to ignore the country's 5 million ethnic Arabs, Africans and Turks, Western Europe's largest Muslim community, who account for about 10 percent of the French population.

"All the political parties have taken into account the reality of the Muslim voting potential in France," said sociologist Franck Fregosi, of the presidential and legislative elections that will run from April through June. "But the reality is there's nothing that shows French Muslims will vote for one party or another. Most think neither the left nor the right has done much for them."

Only about a third of French Muslims are eligible to vote. But as the population shops around this election season, an eclectic array of presidential candidates is scrambling for their support.

posted by Howard @ 4/09/2002 11:00:22 AM