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The implications of the victory of the Liberation Front Party in the early local elections in Algeria

Amman Today

publish date 2021-12-02 12:12:24

The Compass – The National Liberation Front (formerly ruling) party in Algeria maintained its leadership position on the political scene, after winning the early local elections that were held on November 27.

On Tuesday, the head of the Independent Electoral Authority, Mohamed Sharafi, announced that the National Liberation Front had won the largest number of seats in the municipal and state popular council elections.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took the initiative to organize early local elections to renew the parliaments of 1,541 municipalities and 58 states, as part of the completion of “political reform and institutional building workshops.”

Sharafi revealed that the National Liberation Front won 5,978 seats in the municipal elections to win 124 municipalities with an absolute majority, while the lists of parties and independents compete for leadership of 552 municipalities, according to the principle of relative majority.

In the state councils, the party won 471 seats in 25 states (provinces), without registering an absolute majority in any of the councils.

The relative majority forces him to enter into alliances with the aim of winning the presidency of a larger number of municipalities and state councils.

** Durability

The provisional results announced by the election authority keep the National Liberation Front, which before 2019 was the ruling party in the country, at the forefront of the general political scene.

The party became the largest number of seats in all elected councils (municipal, state, parliament).

The National Liberation Front ranked first in the legislation last June, with 98 seats out of 407 seats in the National People’s Assembly (the first chamber of Parliament).

The party was subjected to severe criticism from the political class and large groups of the Algerian people, because of its support for the policies of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who since 2015 became the actual head of the party. Prior to this date, he was his honorary president.

The popular movement, which erupted on February 22, 2019, blamed the National Liberation Front (FLN) for most of the country’s problems, and carried slogans against it.

Several voices demanded that the party be referred to the Political Museum, as it is “a national heritage that belongs to all Algerians and not to a specific group of the national trend,” as it led, as a liberation movement, the liberation revolution against French colonialism between 1954 and 1962.

The party tried to support Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the 2019 presidency, but he reserved and made sure that he is “the candidate of youth and civil society and not the candidate of any political party.”

Observers said, on that day, that Tebboune refused to link his project to a party whose image was shaken by great tremors.

Nevertheless, the party supports President Tebboune’s program and supports all of his reform projects, whether related to amending the constitution or organizing prior elections. It also participates in the current government with a number of ministers.

It is clear that the party has withstood all the storms that hit it, whether from the outside or from the inside, due to the permanent conflicts between its leaders.

And last summer, dozens of militants and people, under the direction of opposition leaders, stormed the party’s central headquarters and the office of the current Secretary-General, Abu al-Fadl Baaji, to demand his departure, in the midst of preparations for the pre-local elections.

** Stay in the lead

Despite all the problems and tremors, the party led all the electoral processes that were organized in advance.

The Secretary-General of the party, Abu al-Fadl Baji, attributed the matter to “the people rallying around him, his future party.”

On Tuesday, Baji told reporters, as soon as the provisional results of the local elections were released: “Here is the Algerian people, the party is victorious once again in a great month, the month of victories, November,” referring to November 1, 1954, the date of the outbreak of the liberation revolution against the French occupation of the country, which lasted 132 Year (1830-1962).

He explained that the major changes he made to the party’s political discourse, behaviors and practices, the fight against corrupt money, and the selection of the “cleanest and best candidates” resulted in victory.

Baji did not hide that the party’s ambition was to achieve greater results, “but problems in covering the structures at the level of some states (provinces) reduced its chances of a greater victory.”

** but lost

The victory of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in first place in the last two elections also carries a significant decline for it in terms of seats.

Compared to 2017, the party lost 63 seats in the National People’s Assembly (the first chamber of parliament), as it gained 161 seats on that day, compared to 98 seats in the last June’s legislatures.

In the local elections, the party won 124 municipalities by an absolute majority, compared to 603 municipalities in 2017, a difference of 479 municipalities.

It decreased in the state councils by 240 seats, after obtaining 471 seats, compared to 711 seats in 2017.

These numbers are waiting to see if he will benefit from the alliances to raise his score.

** Participation rate

The FLN’s survival in the lead, comes in light of fundamental changes to the electoral law, and the shift from the voting system on the closed list (the top of the list) to the open list style, which means voting on people.

Observers have expected, since the beginning of this year, that the party will continue with the rest of the traditional parties, such as the National Democratic Assembly and the Movement for a Peaceful Society (Islamic) in the forefront, given the electoral reluctance and the low participation rate.

Observers attributed the matter to the fact that the traditional parties have a stable base of militants and popular bases that they have refined over decades of field political practice and control of the technical aspect of the electoral process.

In this context, political journalist Jamal Fenish believes that “the National Liberation Front, the victorious forces in these elections, once again benefited from the lack of participation.”

The electoral authority announced that the turnout was 36.58 percent, compared to 23 percent in the last legislative elections.

Authority Chairman Muhammad Sharafi said it was “a qualitative leap, as the number of voters increased by nearly 60 percent in the space of 6 months.”

Journalist Fenish told Anadolu Agency that “it is difficult to put together an accurate analysis of the results of the entitlements, in the absence of tools and processes for probing opinions, so it cannot be said that they are different from their predecessors despite the changes made to the voting system.”

The Algerian president considered, during his participation in the vote, Saturday, that the turnout is not a big bet for the electoral process, but rather “a bet on protecting the voter’s voice and removing corrupt money and suspicions of fraud, as the basis for restoring citizens’ confidence in the electoral act.”

Anatolia

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Source : ألدستور

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