The call for the abolition of the Ministry of National Identity, launched on December 4 by twenty researchers, has gathered more than 34,000 signatures, the collective said in a statement on Monday.

"After a few days, the petition has more than 34,000 individual signatures. Local collectives are being created in several cities (Nîmes, Avignon, Tarbes, etc.) and a Facebook group has nearly 10,000 members," according to the statement.

Historian Marie-Claude Blanc-Chaléard, astrophysicist Daniel Kunth, psychiatrist Richard Rechtman, anthropologist Michel Agier, historian Sophie Wahnich, philosopher Mathieu Potte-Bonneville, and historian Gérard Noiriel are among the twenty signatories.

"This call has been heard: all the left-wing parties solicited (NPA, PC, PG, PRG, PS, Greens), as well as the Modem, have already committed to the abolition of this ministry" led by Eric Besson, the text adds.

Many associations and unions have also signed the call, according to the collective, which plans to organize a meeting in February "in response to the conclusions of the national identity debate," which will be the subject of a government seminar at an unspecified date.

Initially scheduled for February 4, the "final colloquium" on this debate could be postponed, as President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to speak on the subject during the first half of next month.

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