While the upcoming municipal elections in March are prompting candidates to court voters and support, many are making Muslims and mosques a major focus of their campaign – either supportive to attract Muslim supporters, or promising no increase in Islamic presence, drawing backing from rightist voters. The issue is major, as up for grabs are all city mayors and municipal councilors. One of the main banners for Thomas Joly’s campaign reads: “No Mosque in Beauvais.” The online campaign of UMP candidate Francoise de Panafieu for the Paris municipality, the country’s largest, features a photo of Muslims praying on a Parisian street. The caption for the photo reads: “France must be ashamed that citizens practice their rituals on the margins.” Muslim candidates themselves are not absent from the municipal campaign trails, and are representing a variety of parties. “We want French of immigrant backgrounds, especially Muslims, to be heavily represented in municipal elections,” Youssef Alzawi, who is leading the independent Bobigny for All list, told IslamOnline.net Monday, January 28. Citizens of immigrant descent make up nearly 21% of the population of 46,000 in Bobigny. Alzawi cites that paying attention to youth needs and resources is a major issue of his campaign. Leila Bouzidi, a French Muslim of Algerian descent is also a leading slate for the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
