French Parliament “questions” President Hollande about the ins and outs of his visit to Algeria!

The recent visit on June 15th by President Francois Hollande, to Algeria has triggered off various reactions inside France, amid the considerable stir that preceded and followed this presidential visit in Algeria itself, especially among the members of the Algerian opposition, and this time the French Parliament came in to require from President Hollande to reveal the outcome and the reasons for this visit.

In this context, the French National Assembly at the initiative of the opposition “Republican” party formally demanded the disclosure of the outcome of recent State visit that led French President Francois Hollande to Algeria, as well as the revelation of its findings and the list of all the personalities who met with François Hollande in Algeria.

The request came in the form of a written question put forth by the French parliamentarian Gerald Darmanan representing the Republicans of the Northern regions dated 23 June 2015, stating that “French  Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius would be questioned in Parliament about the whys and wherefores of President Francois Hollande’s recent state visit  to the people’s Democratic Republic of Algeria”.

The move coincides with a recent visit by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Morocco, and controversial remarks made by the latter on this occasion.

President Hollande, said during his visit that “France is Algeria’s first trade partner and expects to further boost its presence… with the installation soon of important companies such as Renault, Sanofi, Alstom and Peugeot.”

He said ties with Algeria, despite the two countries’ prickly past, were “exceptional” and built on “real and fraternal friendship”.

President Hollande’s visit also came as France and Algeria, which both face economic woes, seek to bolster bilateral trade which reached 10.5 billion Euros in 2014.