Grégoire de Fournas will be suspended in addition to losing half of his parliamentary allowance for two months.
The National Assembly of France has banned a far-right MP for 15 days for yelling “they should go back to Africa” as a black colleague discussed immigration.
According to Grégoire de Fournas of National Rally (RN), his remark was not directed at Carlos Martens Bilongo, but rather at migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea.
Mr. Bilongo stated that he was born in France and that the remark was “shameful.”
MPs voted on Friday to suspend him and dock half his allowance.
The decision is described as the harshest sanction available to the Assembly.
Mr Bilongo had been questioning the government about a request by the SOS Méditerranée non-governmental organisation for help in finding a port for 234 migrants rescued at sea in recent days.
The exact meaning of the National Rally MP’s remark is disputed, because theoretically he could have referred to more than one person. The official account of the session recorded his off-microphone remark as Qu’il retourne en Afrique – “he should go back to Africa” – but the plural Qu’ils retournent en Afrique sounds exactly the same.
When Mr de Fournas made his remark, the Speaker, Yaël Braun-Pivet, demanded to know who had spoken. Then, as MPs chanted “Out! Out! Out!”, she suspended the session, declaring, “This is not possible.”
Mr Bilongo, an MP from the the left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI), said: “Today it’s come back to the colour of my skin. I was born in France, I am a French MP.” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said there was “no room for racism” and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the MP should resign.
Mr de Fournas was adamant he had been referring to the “boat transporting migrants to Europe”, and party leader Marine Le Pen accused her political opponents of fabricating a vulgar outcry.
He later apologised to Mr Bilongo for “the misunderstanding” his comments had caused and if he had been hurt by them.
LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon tweeted that the MP’s comments were “beyond intolerable” and he should be kicked out of the National Assembly.
In the parliamentary election in June, the party increased its presence in the National Assembly tenfold, winning 89 seats.