PHNOM PENH: A summit of French-speaking nations opened Sunday (Nov 15) in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in the presence of leaders including France's Emmanuel Macron, seeking to avoid a walkout by its biggest African member.
The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) has 53 full members and dozens more affiliated nations in a loose post-colonial association that resembles the English-speaking Commonwealth.
French President Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are attending, but it is the rivalry of the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Rwanda, Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, that is dominating the two-day talks.
Rwanda's Louise Mushikiwabo has led the OIF for eight years and is running for a third term, but the DR Congo is strongly opposed - and has threatened to quit the organisation if she is re-elected on Monday.
Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group's activities inside DR Congo, which Kigali denies.
Last year Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso withdrew from the OIF after successive coups that saw Paris-friendly governments replaced by pro-Russian juntas.
The departure of DR Congo - the second most Francophone country after France with 57.3 million speakers, according to the OIF - would be a major blow.
Four candidates are running for secretary general in addition to Mushikiwabo, including DR Congo's Juliana Lumumba, the daughter of national hero Patrice Lumumba.
DR Congo stated on Saturday it was ready to withdraw Lumumba if Rwanda did likewise in favour of a unity candidate.
This would make former Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolos the favourite, according to summit sources, although Mauritania's Coumba Ba, a former minister, is also running.
The row has revived debate over the influence of former colonial ruler France, the OIF's biggest donor, which provided one third of the 2025 budget.
Rwanda has denounced Paris's involvement, saying Macron asked Kagame to withdraw his country's candidate - a request it said it rejected.
France had supported Mushikiwabo in 2018 as ties warmed between Paris and Kigali.
Macron's office on Saturday said Paris suggested both the Congolese and Rwandan candidates withdraw in the interests of unity.
Canada - the second biggest donor, providing 25 percent of the budget - has stressed the need for consensus.
Macron is the first French president since 1993 to visit Cambodia, once part of France's Indochina colonies where just 0.16 percent of the population currently speaks French, according to the OIF.
His trip comes against a backdrop of mass demonstrations at home, five months ahead of presidential elections that the far-right sees as its best chance yet to obtain power. - AFP
