The Civil Forum for Change, which brings together 70 associations, figures from civil society and Algerian citizens, unveiled on Wednesday, July 17, a long-awaited list of "apolitical and credible" personalities charged with initiating a dialogue process. with power.
A panel proposed in response to the call for dialogue launched by the Algerian interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, while the country is, since 22 February, the scene of an important movement of popular protest that pushed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the resignation on April 2nd.
It remains to be seen whether this list will be accepted by the demonstrators, and the power, which also intends to propose a panel of personalities supposed to lead the dialogue, in which neither the political authorities nor the army would be, according to him, involved. "A panel of national personalities, independent, credible and credible, whose component, currently subject of contacts and consultations, will be known shortly," said a source quoted by the official APS news agency, while no details on the calendar the process has not been revealed yet.
Born out of the protest movement, the Civil Forum for Change, which recently presented a draft roadmap to emerge from the political crisis, calls for an inclusive dialogue between "all segments of Algerian society and its institutions".
The list proposed by its president, Abderrahmane Arar, has 13 names, including those of two former heads of government, Mouloud Hamrouche and Mokdad Sifi, and the former minister and presidential candidate of 1999, Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi. Several intellectuals and civil society actors who are consensual and able to be accepted by the street are also included, including Fatiha Benabou, a constitutional expert and teacher at the Faculty of Law of Algiers, who agreed in principle to take part .
An already contested list
But while she had just been unveiled, Djamila Bouhired, FLN activist and figure of the Algerian war of independence, whose name is on the list, caused a certain stupefaction by denying having agreed to participate to this initiative. Worse, she rejects it. Abderrahmane Arar had said at a press conference that the detainees had been contacted and agreed to take part in this mission.
"I learned with amazement that my name was on a list of people, charged with organizing a dialogue between the power and the popular movement," said Djamila Bouhired in a statement broadcast by local media. He added: "I can not be part of a group of people, some of whom have served power, while patriots are thrown into prison for crimes of opinion, including an officer of the NLA, Brother Lakhdar. Bouregaa, there can be no dialogue with those who threaten us and accuse us of treason ".
A figure of the Algerian Revolution and a respected veteran of the War of Independence, Lakhdar Bouregaa was indicted by an Algerian court on 30 June for "contempt and moral injury of the army" and jailed after criticizing him. the strongman of the country, Ahmed Gaïd Salah. He faces a sentence of ten years imprisonment.
Mostafa Bouchachi, lawyer and former president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, whose name is also one of the 13 personalities retained, expressed his doubts that the panel and profiles proposed by the Forum are validated by power. He also set his conditions to begin the dialogue supposed to prepare the presidential election. In addition to the departure of "symbols of the system", including the interim president, he calls for the release of those arrested on the sidelines of demonstrations and that of "the word in the media space."
Economist Smail Lalmas, also quoted on the list, said he too was ready to participate in the process as long as it was "accepted by the people". He also demanded evidence of goodwill from the government, demanding the release of those arrested on the sidelines of protests against the regime, including Lakhdar Bouregaa.
While the process of dialogue is still in its infancy, on the side of the population, a new event is scheduled for Friday, July 19, for the 22nd week in a row. Last week, the protesters called for the release of the incarcerated protesters, and the resignation of the interim president. Abdelkader Bensalah, whose interim should have ended July 9 according to the Constitution, remains at the head of the state, with the approval of the army, in the absence of presidential elections.