French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve holds a press conference to announce that the state of emergency will be extended until July 2017 following a cabinet meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on December 10, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / Thomas SAMS
PARIS: The French government will propose to extend the state of emergency until July 15, 2017, Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Saturday.
He justified the extension by evoking existing terrorist threats as France holds presidential and parliamentary elections next year
"The persistence of the terrorist threat makes this extension indispensable," Cazeneuve told reporters following an exceptional Council of Ministers.
France will hold the two rounds of the presidential election in April-May, followed by parliament elections in June.
The extension bill needs to be approved by the national assembly- lower and principal house of parliament. It will be discussed next Tuesday. The senate will review it on Thursday.
France is on high alert after a series of terrorist attacks that targeted the country since January of last year, killing hundreds of people.
A state of emergency was introduced last November and was extended four times since: twice for three months, once for two months to ensure security during the Euro 2016, which ended on July 10, and the Tour de France, the world's biggest road cycling competition, which ended on July 24. The last was extended in July for a period of six months.
For each extension, civil rights groups have raised concerns and urged its suspension.
