Boumediene (L) and Khiari got footholds in the 732-seat French legislature

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

PARIS , September 29 (IslamOnline.net) – Two French Muslim women of Arab descent have won two seats in the Senate in the first time ever.

Making history, Alima Boumediene Thiery of the Greens Party and Bariza Khiari of the Socialist Party have got the footholds in the September 26 elections to the upper house of French parliament.

Boumediene, 47, is known for her staunch support for the Palestinian cause.

A former member of the European Parliament, Boumediene had put forward a draft resolution demanding the euro bloc to boycott Israel for its grisly policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Boumediene has also been playing a leading role in defending the rights of the Arab and Muslim communities in France as she strongly opposed the enactment of a law banning hijab and religious symbols in state schools.

Contrary to her fellow MP, Khiari, Boumediene has run several times for French elections as well as joining many committees established for combating Islamophobia in France and defending the rights of immigrants in the country.

France is home to around six million Muslims, half of them are of Arab origin.

Integration

The new Muslim victory in France comes at a time when there are mounting calls in the country to integrate immigrants into society as well as allowing them to have a say in the political and social landscapes.

Two French citizens of Algerian origin, of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and the Socialist Party, won two seats in the latest elections of the European Parliament in June 2004.

Algerian-born Tokia Saifi, the government’s notary, has garnered 13.3 percent of the votes. Kadir Arif, also of Algerian origin, led the French Socialists in the elections, getting 30.83 percent of the ballots.

France has 78 seats of the 732-seat European parliament.

The elections of the French senate had resulted in the losing of French President Jacques Chirac's ruling UMP of eight seats for the leftist parties (Socialist, Communist and Greens parties). The ruling party had 162 of 321 seats before the vote.

The UMP had suffered last March a stunning defeat at the local polls, losing control of nearly all the country's regional assemblies to the PS.

The European parliament elections have left almost all the ruling parties reeling as voters dealt them stunning defeats and stayed away from the polls in record numbers.

Voters punished governments who supported the US-led invasion of Iraq and for painful economic reforms.