In a statement sent to the editorial staff of Maroc Diplomatique, the French Council of Muslim Worship held its Extraordinary General Assembly, in reaction to the latest decision by President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the CFCM. Below is the press release in its entirety.
The CFCM held its Extraordinary General Assembly, in Bagnolet on February 19, 2023, in order to adopt new statutes. More than 55% of its members, including 73% elected by local stakeholders, took part in this EGM. In accordance with the statutes of the CFCM, a new AGE is necessary to definitively validate the new statutes. She will be convened on March 12, 2023.
The new statutes provide for an overhaul of the CFCM on the basis of departmental structures; can take part, in an equal manner, all the mosques of France. The positive assessment of the departmental structures, created in recent years in pilot departments, confirms the relevance of this choice.
They also provide for the end of the system of co-option (of half of the current members of the CFCM) by certain so-called statutory federations. This system, which has proven to be undemocratic and arbitrary, is the main cause of the blockage imposed on the CFCM in recent years.
Through these two major changes, the CFCM wishes to give back the floor to local actors elected by their peers who will have the necessary legitimacy. These actors who bring together common concerns will abolish the artificial borders and divisions that have severely hampered the CFCM in its missions.
Initiated by Mr. Jean-Pierre Chevènement, then Minister of the Interior and Worship, the CFCM was set up in 2003, under the decisive impetus of the former President of the Republic, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, to serve the French citizens of the Muslim faith and the Republic in respect of secularism and its principle of separation.
Currently, the CFCM represents more than 1,100 mosques that participated in its 2020 election. This figure is set to increase significantly with the new reform which provides answers to the main obstacles to wider electoral participation.
All the representations of the cults of our country have had to evolve to be in phase with new contexts. That of the Muslim faith is part of this dynamic. Today, the CFCM intends to operate its evolution, far from the upheavals and the crisis that it has experienced in recent years.
This body, which has made it possible to include Islam in the French religious landscape with undeniable achievements, is a precious asset that must be supported, improved and consolidated.
The primary vocation of the CFCM is to defend the interests of the Muslim faith, to allow Muslims in France to have the spiritual support they desire, to contribute to the influence of the Muslim religion in France, to represent it in all public bodies and events and in social debates.