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RWANDA-FRANCE-ARMENIA-FRANCOPHONIE-DIPLOMACY-ELECT
Rwandan foreign minister elected Francophonie head
YEREVAN, Oct 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The world organisation of French-
speaking nations on Friday elected Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise
Mushikiwabo as its new head despite her country’s shift to English a decade
ago and controversy over its rights record.
Mushikiwabo was elected in a suspense-free vote on the last day of the
International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) summit in the Armenian
capital Yerevan. She will replace Canadian politician Michaelle Jean.
The 57-year-old visited dozens of countries to campaign for support and
received the backing of the African Union as well as the crucial support of
France.
Ironically Rwanda, a former Belgian colony where French was the lingua
franca, switched to English as the language of education in 2008 and joined
the Commonwealth a year after.
Her election is a victory for both Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame and
French President Emmanuel Macron, who have sought to improve relations
between their two nations, long fraught due to Kigali’s accusations of French
complicity in the 1994 genocide that killed at least 800,000, mostly Tutsis.
Her candidacy sparked criticism with Rwanda under fire over human rights
violations and Kagame’s controversial constitutional changes that allow him
to extend his stay in power.
“Rwanda is far from having a political regime that respects individual
and political freedoms, while the charter of the Francophonie assigns primary
importance to these principles as a core of its fundamental values,” France’s
former minister of Cooperation and the Francophonie, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer,
told AFP.
“Seeking the leadership of the Francophonie is clearly part of Rwanda’s
goal for a greater continental and global role,” said Elissa Jobson who
researches the African Union (AU) for the International Crisis Group think
tank.
“It’s a significant move given Rwanda’s frosty relations with France, its
adoption of English as the country’s main language and its admission to the
Commonwealth.”
Established in 1970, the OIF unites the world’s French-speaking
countries.
It has 58 members and 26 observers which together account for a
population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers.
French is currently the world’s fifth most spoken language after Mandarin
Chinese, English, Spanish and Arabic, according to official French estimates.
BSS/AFP/RY/1848 hrs