With 48 hours to go before the start of the Algerian electoral campaign, and under the influence of the Ministry of National Defense, Algerians are faced with a scenario they have become accustomed to over the years: the danger of civil war and terrorism.
By Hichem ABOUD
As the electoral campaign was about to begin without really exciting the electorate, Algerian media, led by public and private television channels, broadcast images of a young man confessing his affiliation with the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK). He resides in France and was arrested at the port of Bejaia on August 4, while in a vehicle loaded with weapons and explosives from Marseille.
Ten days later, on August 14, just before the start of the electoral campaign for the three candidates for the highest office, the Ministry of National Defense released details of this case to the public. The objectives are to “create unrest and insecurity” and “disrupt the smooth running of the Algerian presidential election on September 7,” as specified in the MDN statement. Everything is said. The presidential election is threatened, and with it, the stability of the country. A civil war looms on the horizon. There are calls for “mobilizing the people around their leaders.”
The case is far from convincing the Algerian public, as the narrative seems overly contrived. A vehicle carrying “46 firearms of various calibers, a significant quantity of cartridges, bullets, and projectiles of various calibers, 12 binoculars, 10 bladed weapons, a set of parts and accessories for firearms, equipment and raw materials for ammunition manufacturing, a GPS device, computers, and mobile phones, and various other items” traverses the Mediterranean from the port of Marseille.
For decision-makers and their scriptwriters, it doesn’t matter what the Algerian citizen might think. “They must be convinced that Algeria is threatened in its stability and integrity. Therefore, everyone must approve and support the repressive measures taken against the citizens of this rebellious region, Kabylie. Thus, there has been no condemnation of the arrest and imprisonment of 21 citizens, including one woman, accused of belonging to a network sponsored by foreign secret services,” although the names of these foreign secret services are not mentioned in the Ministry of National Defense’s statement.
Although the electoral campaign opens very timidly, and nothing indicates it will become more lively in the coming days, the decision-makers are not concerned about the competition between the three chosen candidates. The results are known in advance, and there is no doubt about the final outcome of the electoral contest, with Abdelmadjid Tebboune expected to succeed himself. The decision-makers’ bet is different. It focuses on the turnout rate, especially from Kabylie. In the higher echelons of Algerian power, they have not forgotten Kabylie’s historic boycott in 2019. The two main wilayas of the region, Tizi-Ouzou and Bejaia, saw not a single ballot cast in the polling stations that remained closed under popular pressure.
To achieve a high turnout, nothing works better than invoking the threat of civil war to mobilize the population, urging them to respond to the “enemies of the nation” with strong participation in the presidential election to demonstrate the sacred alliance between the power holders and the people.
As for breaking the Kabyle boycott, two tools are used. First, choosing a candidate from the oldest opposition party, founded immediately after independence in 1963, under the leadership of one of the historical figures of the liberation war, Hocine Aït Ahmed. Even though this party has lost much of its prestige and is now just a shadow of its former self, it will still serve to break the boycott, even if only by the participation of a tiny fraction of the Kabyle population. Additionally, the second tool is repression. This tool began to be used with the arrest of 21 people accused of terrorism.
It should be noted that calling for a boycott is subject to judicial sanctions. This is what journalist Merzoug Touati learned the hard way, as he has been under judicial control for a few days after narrowly escaping imprisonment. He is accused of insulting the President of the Republic and inciting a boycott of the elections.
Youcef Aouchiche (40), the candidate from the FFS, has only one ambition: to become the head of one of the three political poles that will now animate the Algerian political scene, as envisioned by the brain of the presidency, Colonel Mohamed Chafik Mesbah, advisor at El-Mouradia.
The third candidate, running under the Islamist banner, Abdelaali Hassani Cherif (57), president of the Movement for Society Peace, has no intention of challenging the decision-makers’ candidate. He often reminds his entourage that, for him, “it is an honor to be in an electoral competition with President Tebboune.”