Despite early parliamentary elections, Algeria risks remaining in political stalemate
Election posters in Algiers before the next legislative elections scheduled for June 12, May 31, 2021. AFP - -
Text by: Jeanne Richard Follow
5 mins
The early legislative elections must take place this Saturday, June 12 in Algeria in order to elect for five years the 407 deputies of the National People's Assembly.
For power, it is an additional step supposed to restore all their legitimacy to the country's institutions after the fall of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019. But this election is rejected within the Hirak and by part of the political class, in a context serious economic crisis and increased repression.
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For several days, President
Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been
increasing the number of interviews in the international press.
In particular, he promotes a “
reconstruction of the Republic
”.
Algeria has been living for two years in a crisis of legitimacy of the institutions and political personnel in place. The challenge for power is to finally succeed in turning the page on Hirak. "
The Algerian authorities, through the organization of legislative elections, are first of all seeking to acquire a certain legitimacy by means of an electoral formalism",
explains Brahim Oumansour, associate researcher at IRIS, the Institute of International Relations and strategic and specialist in the Maghreb
.
According to him, the authorities present these elections also as a response to the aspirations of the Hirak.
“They want to give the impression of a change through the renewal of the political class within the Algerian Parliament.
"
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Boycott of the opposition
But within the Hirak and the political class, the ballot is rejected, as was the presidential election in December 2019 and the constitutional referendum last November. Both marked by a record abstention. Zoubida Assoul, president of the Union for Change and Progress (UPC), a small opposition party, believed that the legislative elections cannot, in their current form, be a solution to the crisis. For her, it is "
only a maneuver of power to retrain, with the same practices and the same mechanisms and the same faces responsible for the current crisis
". His party, like other opposition groups, calls for a boycott. "
The popular movement continues to contest these elections, because it maintains its initial demands and calls for a radical change of the system.
However, these elections, most of the militants of Hirak consider them rather as a tool used by the leaders to maintain the system and not a means of reforming it
”, notes Brahim Oumansour.
Repression of the protest
In parallel with the normalization of the institutions desired by the regime, repression has increased. The authorities seem to want to stifle the protest. More than 2,000 people were arrested in two weeks in early May and now the Hirak marches are prohibited. As of June 4, the National Committee for the Release of Detainees had 214 people still in detention for their opinions or because they participated in the protests. A record since the start of the protest movement. An association close to Hirak and two opposition political parties are also threatened with dissolution: the Workers' Party and the UPC.
For researcher Brahim Oumansour, "this
repressive policy contributes to worsening the crisis of confidence
".
Same analysis on the part of the professor of law Mouloud Boumghar, for whom this repression prevents the holding of a credible ballot.
“
Everyone is against legislative elections not in principle against elections, since their main demand is that of a democratic rule of law, but because these elections are not free.
"
Parliament without great powers
And while Algerians are concerned about the social and economic difficulties after a year of pandemic and the fall in oil revenues, these legislative elections, without part of the opposition and rejected by the Hirak, could lead to a very low participation rate. , moreover, to elect deputies without much power. “
Anyway, whoever wins these elections, this Parliament has very little power. The executive, in the Algerian constitution, and the President of the Republic in particular, is overpowered,
”explains Mouloud Boumghar. "
Second, the reality of power is not in the hands of civil authorities.
In Algeria, it is customary to call the military high command "the real power".
So the stake in terms of changes is extremely low.
The stakes in terms of display, for power, are extremely high
”.
According to the two analysts, the country therefore risks remaining in a political impasse.
However, one question is still pending: that of the composition of the future National People's Congress.
Depending on the results of the ballot, we will see which political forces will surround Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Between the Islamists, the traditional parties of the Bouteflika era or the many independent candidates with uncertain affiliation.
►
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Algeria: does the regime want to extinguish the Hirak?
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