Algerians question FLN future

An increasing number of Algerians are calling for the FLN to be disbanded.

By Fidet Mansour for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/07/11

As revolutions and popular uprisings sweep across the Arab world, Algerians are debating their own political order and the future of the National Liberation Front (FLN).

The FLN should "be wound up as a party, because it belongs to all Algerians", according to Omar Bouacha, president of the Movement for Openness. He believes that the state should keep its distance from political parties such as the FLN "so that they can be impartial".

The socialist party was founded during the war of independence and remained Algeria's only party for three decades. Now led by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Secretary-General Abdelaziz Belkhadem, the FLN is the largest party in the country's elected assemblies and maintains a strong presence in the government.

However, many observers feel that the group is unable to keep up with a changing Algeria. Former Minister Kamel Bouchama was once a national commissioner for the party but he now believes that the FLN is faced with a choice of abandoning its old ways or being consigned to the dustbin. However, he maintains that "the FLN can still be saved" if reforms are implemented.

"All it will take is for a handful of honest activists armed with courage and a great deal of willpower to set about re-establishing the FLN", Bouchama said. He criticized the modern day party for having become "a springboard for all sorts of opportunists".

Bouchama added that restoring the party would "require the involvement of young people".

The question of what should be done with the FLN is higher on the agenda than ever before, according to L'Expression journalist Noreddine Merdaci.

"The crisis within the former national independence movement, which is recurrent and ongoing, even gives one the impression that it is intensifying," he wrote in an article published in the paper. Since independence, he believes, the party has "above all served as a smokescreen for all of the manipulation and exploitation for special purposes."

Despite the introduction of multiparty politics, he argued, "the FLN is continuing to behave like a state within a state."

Three opposition parties – the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) and the Republican Patriotic Assembly – are all calling for the FLN to be wound up.

"No legitimacy other than constitutional legitimacy may be invoked or used to justify interference in matters that relate to personal beliefs and affect the personal freedom of citizens," retired general Khaled Nezzar said. His statement referenced the FLN policy of relying on its history during the war of independence for legitimacy.

Algerian citizens, and young people in particular, shared the view of politicians who called for the FLN to be disbanded.

"The role of the FLN ended in 1962 but this party is still hiding behind its historical legitimacy in order to impose itself as a political force," commented 25-year-old Marwa Boufatah.

Aymen, 32, said that the FLN made mistakes since independence, adding that they were "detrimental to what it has achieved and the just cause that was defended during the war of independence."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/08/feature-03.