What Is A Burkini? French Election Candidates Clash Over Issue At Presidential Debate

Several of the five leading candidates in France’s presidential election sparred over whether women should be allowed to cover their bodies at the beach during a Monday-night debate about a month before the first round vote.

The exchange stemmed from a debate over France’s adherence to principles of secularism between far-right Front National party President Marine Le Pen and Socialist Party candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. Le Pen railed against “the escalation of Islamic fundamentalism” and the “pressure and incessant demands” related to the Muslim religion’s clothing and food requirements, Le Monde reported.

Read: Religious War: France Could Ban Burqas, Yarmulkes And Turbans If Marine Le Pen Becomes President

Le Pen then baited her center-left rival Emmanuel Macron, who recent polls indicated would narrowly trail her in the April 23 first round vote but would beat her by a wide margin if he faced her in the two-candidate May 7 run-off.

“You don’t want to see the reality of the gravity of what’s happening in our country, but it nevertheless remains that several years ago, there were no burkinis on the beaches,” Le Pen said to Melenchon, referring to a full-body swimsuit worn by women opting for a modest appearance. “I know that you are in favor of Mr. Macron, but there weren’t any.”

Macron retorted that he had “no need for a ventriloquist,” adding, “if I need to say something, I say it,” according to Le Monde.

But when Le Pen prompted him as to whether he supported allowing women to wear the burkini in France, Macron did not offer a definitive answer.

“I said it very clearly,” the former investment banker and finance minister said. “It has nothing to do with secularism, it’s not cultural. It’s an issue of public order.”

Melenchon interjected, telling Le Pen that she can’t “go to the point of establishing a clothing police” and “stop people with green hair” or “skirts that are too short or too long.”

Read: Burkini Ban Continues In France With 3 Women Getting Fined On Cannes Beach

France’s highest administrative court ruled at the end of August that mayors in the country did not have the right to ban the apparel from their cities’ beaches, only for mayors in small municipalities near the southern coastal cities of Nice and Monaco to continue enforcing a ban anyway. The court cases followed incidents in dozens of cities along France’s Mediterranean coast in which police demanded the women pay fines for wearing the full-body coverings.