French parliament backs constitutional change to revoke citizenship

France’s parliament has narrowly approved a bill that will see the constitution amended so that people convicted of terror offences can have their French citizenship revoked.

The first stage of the controversial bill’s passage into law was passed on Tuesday night, when 162 lawmakers voted it through.

148 MPs voted against the measure, and 22 abstained following controversy that has seen a government minister resign over the proposal.

The parliament is due to vote on Wednesday on the full package of constitutional reforms, which the government is pushing through in the wake of last November’s bloody attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

The bill also proposes enshrining the current state of emergency in the country’s constitution, significantly increasing the powers of the security forces.

The state of emergency was imposed immediately after the attacks, and allows police to raid homes and hold people under house arrest without judicial oversight.

The powers, which have already been extended far beyond their usual 12-day period, are due to elapse on 26 February, but the government is keen to extend them.

Under the changes proposed in the bill being voted on this Wednesday, further extensions to the state of emergency will have to be approved by parliament but will be protected from legal challenges.

The most controversial part of the bill allows authorities to strip citizenship from anyone convicted of terror offences.

Since international law prevents governments from rendering people stateless, the law would in practice only apply to dual nationals who also hold a passport from another country.

Critics of the proposal – which has widespread public support – say it would create a two-tier system of nationality in France and argue that citizenship should not be used as leverage in criminal cases.

Late last month justice minister Christiane Taubira resigned her position over the proposal, citing a “major political disagreement” with other members of the government.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said late on Tuesday that he was confident the reforms would pass.

Valls warns MPs from his Socialist Party that voting against the bill would "put the government in difficulty and leave the president in a minority".