Word: bill
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Haitians have waited patiently during the planning phase for reconstructing this Caribbean nation. And now plans reveal that a joint commission between Haitian authorities and the international community, co-chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will manage the funds. When I revealed the news to a family member, she jokingly said, "They're giving the money to the state! Good, I work for the state." It is a very serious joke. Haitians are concerned that aid money will not trickle down to the people but instead be used by the government...
...bill's chief sponsor, Daniel Bacquelaine of the liberal Reformist Movement party, admits that cultural considerations have also come into play. "In an open society, we need common values and we need equal rights and duties," he says. Bacquelaine estimates the burqa is worn by only a few hundred of Belgium's 630,000-strong Muslim population, but the numbers have been rising in the past decade. "It has become a political weapon," he says. "There is nothing in Islam or the Koran about the burqa. It has become an instrument of intimidation, and is a sign of submission...
...Belgium, however, the burqa bill has the cautious support of much of the Muslim community. "Nobody likes somebody covered," says Saïd El Khadraoui, a Belgian Socialist member of the European Parliament. "It is wrong to say the burqa is part of Islam - the vast majority of Muslims do not wear it. And it's not a bad idea to give a signal that we need some rules to live together." His sentiments are echoed by Emir Kir, who was born in Belgium to Turkish Muslim parents and is now the Secretary for Public Sanitation and Monument Conservation...
...also wonders whether the bill would be compatible with the Belgian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Indeed, legal concerns led France's Council of State to warn this week that a similar proposal working its way through France's legislative system could be unconstitutional. French politicians are still mulling their options. The leader of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement party has said that while he respects the council's conclusions, the parliament is not bound by them. (Read an argument against the veil by Azadeh Moaveni...
...lower house of Belgium's parliament is set to vote on the bill on April 22 and it could enter into law in June or July. But even if the measure is delayed by court challenges, it is still hugely significant for Belgium and its relationship with its Muslim community, according to Carl Devos, a political scientist at Ghent University. "The Muslim community is not yet well-integrated in Belgium. The difference between them and us is still there," he says. "This law draws a line, saying we in western European democracies accept Muslim beliefs, but in order to live...