France has decided not to extend voting rights to foreigners despite having been a campaign promise of François Hollande.
The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, admitted that the country simply was not ready for such a reform.
The idea had been to give non-French nationals from outside the EU the right to vote in local elections. The idea was first mooted by President Mitterand in the early 1980s.
The updated idea would have enfranchised for municipal elections those foreign nationals living legally in France who have been in the country for more than five years.
It is already the case that citizens from other EU countries can vote in local elections.
Speaking to French students this week, Valls admitted it would be “impossible” both “politically and constitutionally” to achieve the reform.
“It is no longer a subject, it will not be implemented and I am convinced that it will not reproposed at the next presidential election,” he added.
The reform would have needed a change to the French constitution. But the reform is opposed by right-wing politicians who control the Senate, making it highly unlikely to find approval.
At a time with questions around immigration are high on the agenda and the far-right National Front gaining in popularity, politicians may not have been willing to fan any flames.
