The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF), an unrecognized tool of parliamentary diplomacy, met at the end of January with its office in Tahiti at the invitation of the President of the Assembly of French Polynesia. About sixty parliamentarians, including some French, were on the trip. Investigation of a structure whose journeys raise questions.
In the midst of the energy crisis and debate on pensions, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) chose to meet in the Pacific in Tahiti, on January 30 and 31. At the invitation of Gaston Tong Sang, President of the Assembly of French Polynesia, some sixty parliamentarians and civil servants from APF member countries traveled to the Pacific to take part in this meeting, which was supposed to prepare for a general assembly in July. next. Among the themes addressed by the parliamentarians who came from all over the world by plane to Papeete: the fight against climate change.
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On the French side, the delegation to Tahiti was made up of five people: Philippe Mouiller (LR senator from Deux-Sèvres), Christophe-André Frassa (LR senator representing French people living outside France), Bruno Fuchs (Modem deputy from Haut-Rhin and secretary general of the APF) as well as two parliamentary attachés, one of whom, according to our information, declined the invitation for ethical reasons. Joined in Tahiti by franceinfo on the opportunity of this meeting of only two days at nearly 16,000 km (nearly six tons of CO2 emissions by plane), the deputy Bruno Fuchs answers: “Thehe office meets twice a year and this meeting was validated by our authorities last July. Polynesia has offered to welcome us as soon as it joins the APF in 2019. The French delegation is reduced to a minimum while we represent the largest section in number (90 deputies and 60 senators). By comparison, Quebec sent six parliamentarians and four accompanying persons.
“The absence of France would have been simply inconceivable. It would have provoked a fatal distrust of the institution.”
Bruno Fuchs, Modem deputy and general secretary of the APFat franceinfo
From a diplomatic and cultural point of view, the Secretary General justifies this trip by the prospect of the next regional elections under pressure from the independence movement, the influence and cultural influence of France in the Indo-Pacific in the face of the predominance of the United States. Bruno Fuchs evokes a “regional enthusiasm” around the arrival of the APF in Tahiti, of which the settlement of Vanuatu’s contribution liabilities (67,000 euros) would be the obvious sign. Apart from our colleagues from Polynésie la Première, no national media gave articles to this statutory meeting.
A parallel diplomacy
Within the National Assembly, few deputies involved in foreign affairs are aware of this trip. Contacted by franceinfo, the ecologist deputy – NUPES Aurélien Taché, who has just proposed an information mission on the influence of France within the framework of the Francophonie, falls a little out of the closet. “You teach me! he assures. Given the economic and environmental context, this meeting is just inappropriate. Francophonie is very serious. Anti-French sentiment is growing in some parts of the world. We see it with Russian propaganda.
“The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie must not present itself as something of old notables who travel.
Aurélien Taché, ecologist deputy-NUPESat franceinfo
A former member of the APF, the former socialist senator, Claudine Lepage, also reacts to this parliamentary trip to Tahiti in business class. “It’s amazing! I was totally opposed to this expensive trip which is not eco-responsible. I said it during the office. But I was alone and I was not followed at all. Besides, we never vote in the APF”, regrets the ex-senator.
Unknown to the general public, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie is one of the many organizations responsible for promoting the Francophonie in the world, like the International Organization of the Francophonie or NGOs such as Francophonie without borders. According to its statutes, the APF, born in 1967, “aims to promote through cooperation initiatives for the promotion of the French language” and “constitutes a privileged link between the executives and the peoples of the Francophonie”, In addition to bringing together its bodies (offices, assemblies) on a regular basis, the APF organizes numerous missions, conferences and seminars around the world. Although the Assembly claims to exercise “soft power” with governments, its “good offices” missions, reports, resolutions, recommendations or alerts concerning countries in crisis are never publicized and seem to have very little impact. .
Fiscal opacity
The activity reports of the various sections of the APF, in particular France, never specify the travel expenses of parliamentarians. Despite repeated requests from franceinfo, neither the National Assembly nor the APF were able to tell us the cost of the recent stay in Polynesia of French parliamentarians and attachés, nor the accounting details of all the stays in abroad of the members of the French section. The costs (plane, hotel, taxis) were paid by the French section of the APF, itself financed 100% by the National Assembly and the Senate. “As Secretary General of the APF, my stay in Tahiti was supported by the Assembly of French Polynesia”explains Bruno Fuchs. “Tickets were purchased in September to reduce costs. The APF is subject to audits and budgetary control by Parliament and the Court of Auditors. The APF received 120,000 euros from the National Assembly in 2021. A budget that has been falling in recent years due to the pandemic.
Our colleagues from Free Belgium recently pinpointed the opacity of the trips of the Belgian section of the APF. Pointing in particular to the stay in Monaco of two Belgian deputies accompanied by four civil servants for a total cost of nearly 20,000 euros. According to our information, the Labor Party of Belgium (PTB) has just tabled a law for the automatic publication of these trips, their cost and the ban on traveling in business class.