Ministerial advisers, senior prefects, doctors… almost every day, the Official Journal publishes appointment decrees. The OJ of this September 7 announces two appointments to the cabinet of the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior and Overseas, in charge of Citizenship, Sonia Backès, one of which may surprise. Bastien Vandendyck is now in charge of press relations and Brieuc Frogier is “appointed special adviser”. It is the profile of the latter which aroused some outraged reactions on Wednesday.
Elected loyalist to the Congress of New Caledonia, like Sonia Backès, opposed to the independence of New Caledonia, Brieuc Frogier had shown his support for Éric Zemmour during the presidential campaign. In December 2021, according to France Info, he had not only defended the fact that the far-right candidate “draw (have) future prospects for New Caledonia”, which he wanted to keep in the French fold, but he had also explained to NouméaPost, “not to recognize himself at all in the policy led by Emmanuel Macron in mainland France”. He had met Éric Zemmour in May and they had “stayed in touch”, also told Brieuc Frogier. A member of Reconquest, the Zemmourist party, he wanted to structure it in the archipelago.
Last February, the elected loyalist (who was first a member of the Rassemblement-Les Républicains, a local version of the Républicains, the party of his father, Senator LR Pierre Frogier) confirmed his support for him by granting, with “great pride”, his sponsorship to the president of Reconquest. This display had caused friction within “The Future in Confidence”, the alliance which brings together several right-wing anti-independence parties and of which Frogier is a part. The following month, the elected official withdrew from the support committee for candidate Zemmour, without explaining the reasons. Asked about this appointment by AFP, the entourage of Sonia Backès did not comment.
“When barriers fall…”
“When the barriers fall… maddening to see how much the presidential party, which has made its fortune on the Republican front, has been increasing its outstretched hands to the far right since June,” reacted this Wednesday via Twitter, the first secretary. of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure.
In a press release, SOS Racisme believes that this appointment “is not trivial, since Brieuc Frogier gave his support – and even his sponsorship – to Éric Zemmour in the context of the last presidential election”. The association asked Elisabeth Borne “to put an end to the presence of this individual in the cabinet of a member of his government”.
Asked during the report of the Council of Ministers at the beginning of the afternoon, the government spokesman said he learned of this appointment. “The validation procedures are legal criteria, people must comply with the law”, in particular with the rules controlled by the High Authority for the transparency of political life, explained Olivier Véran.