Same-sex marriage bill debate now enters its second week with more than 5,300 amendments tabled and a fiery atmosphere inside parliament, where MPs trade insults on the floor and via Twitter, reports The Guardian.
The French parliament has begun its second week of a marathon gay marriage debate, with bickering MPs verbally attacking each other day and night, highlighting problems François Hollande faces in his attempts to push through his flagship social reform: the legalisation of gay marriage and adoption.
In a seven-day slanging match, which has made the Westminster debate look tame, the French right has attempted to draw out the proceedings for as long as possible. More than 5,300 amendments have been tabled by the opposition, some of which were absurdist, such as the demand that polygamous and incestuous marriages be legalised in the name of equal rights.
Several rightwing MPs warned of an influx of gay foreigners wanting to marry in France. With about 3,000 amendments still to be dealt with in at least another week of debate, the spats are continuing, with the speaker of parliament often urging both sides to calm down.
During the weekend sitting, the first time in more than eight years that the parliament has sat through Saturday and Sunday, including at night, the left and right sparred over who had been more offensive by making references to the Nazis' treatment of gay people. MPs argued about whether "clown" was an appropriate insult and variously accused each other of being "mute carps" and "dictators".
With the majority Socialists avoiding talking for long in order to speed up the proceedings, many tweeted from the benches to vent their ire.
This in turn infuriated the right. One session was adjourned to restore order after one of the rightwing UMP party's key speakers was likened to Bree Van de Kamp from Desperate Housewives in a Green party MP's tweet.
Le Monde marvelled that from Friday to Sunday the transcript of the debate amounted to more than 240,000 words, about half the text of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.
On Saturday, MPs approved the central plank of the new law: that marriage should be an agreement between any two people, not just a man and a woman. But differences remain before the final vote takes place next week.
While 55 to 65% of French people say they are in favour of gay marriage, only about 50% support gay adoption, the second part of the law.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.