French office rejects bid to establish France-Palestine friendship group in National Assembly

By Esra Taskin

PARIS (AA) – The office of France’s National Assembly rejected a request by a lawmaker to transform a France-Palestine study group in the lower house of parliament into a “friendship group” due to an insufficient number of votes, local media reported Wednesday.

The Office of the National Assembly announced its decision regarding the proposal to rename the France-Palestine International Research Group as the France-Palestine Friendship Group," said public broadcaster FranceInfo.

The motion was rejected with 11 "no" votes against eight "yes" votes.

The Socialist Party (PS) group in the assembly expressed disappointment over the decision.

Some left-wing members viewed the France-Palestine Friendship Group as a step for France towards recognizing a Palestinian state.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul