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March 30th, 2016 
Awake Goy “Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude,” Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting, as quoted by Reuters. “I have decided to end this debate.”
It comes after months of heated discussions among lawmakers, with the far-right applauding the move, while the left deemed it a divisive measure.
Opponents of the proposal said it would create two classes of citizens – dual nationals who could be stripped of their French citizenship, and French citizens who could not. They claim the measure would contradict the principle of equality set out in the constitution.
Many said the measure would do little to prevent terror attacks, while others noted that it could make matters worse by stigmatizing sections of the population – including Muslims and people of North African descent – and pushing them into the hands of extremists.
Former Justice Minister Christiane Taubira resigned from her post, stating that she could not support the measure.
The president’s plan to insert rules for the state of emergency in the constitution was also abandoned. The legislation would have given the president greater powers to declare a state of emergency without first asking for a vote in parliament.
Hollande initially unveiled the proposals in an address to parliament at the grand palace of Versailles just three days after the Paris terror attacks killed 130 people.
In order to have been passed, the same text of the constitutional change would have needed to be agreed upon by the National Assembly and the senate. However, the National Assembly approved on version in February, and the senate approved another version earlier this month.
Hollande’s approval ratings are nearing record lows ahead of the next presidential election, slated for spring 2017.
Source Article from https://www.rt.com/news/337734-hollande-scraps-consititutional-reform/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
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