Parties opposed to the authorities in Algeria have warned of a “remarkable reluctance to run” in the local elections scheduled for November 28, due to a provision in the electoral law that could lead to the exclusion of candidates based on supposed connections to financial and business circles.
The legislative elections that took place on July 2 witnessed widespread controversy over the acceptance of candidacy files, after the Independent National Elections Authority announced the rejection of the files of 1,762 candidates on the grounds that they were “known to the public for their connections to financial and business circles and suspicious activities.” Candidates' files were also rejected for other reasons.
The leaders of the “Socialist Forces Front,” “Voice of the People,” and “Vanguards of Freedom” parties expressed, through press statements, fears of “engineering” the upcoming municipal and state elections, stressing that they face two types of political reluctance: a reluctance to run, and a high probability of widespread refusal to go to the ballot box.
The head of the “Voice of the People” party, Al-Amin Osmani, warned in a press conference in the capital on Saturday of the consequences of “a real crisis hindering political formations,” which, according to his statement, is represented by “a widespread reluctance of citizens to participate in local entitlements,” attributing this to fears of “misapplication of Article 184” of the Municipal and State Elections Law.
Osmani explained that the elites and competencies qualified to run are concerned about the absence of guarantees ensuring the proper implementation of this legal text. Calling on the “Independent National Elections Authority” to issue a memorandum that precisely explains the cases covered by Article 184 “in order to spread reassurance among those wishing to run.”
The controversial article addresses 7 conditions that must be met by anyone wishing to run for the municipal or state council, the most controversial of which is the last condition, which stipulates: “He must not be known to the public for his connection to financial and suspicious business circles, and his direct or indirect influence on the free choice of voters and the proper conduct of the electoral process.”
Osmani stressed the need to respect what is included in the law itself, with regard to indicating that “rights, freedoms and guarantees cannot be restricted except by law” and for specific reasons. These include maintaining public order and security, protecting national constants, or protecting other rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. He also points out that “in any case, these restrictions cannot affect the essence of rights and freedoms.”
For his part, the head of the “Vanguards of Freedoms” Reda Ben Ounan, in statements to the news website “Ultra Algeria,” warned of a bleak scenario looming on the horizon of the upcoming elections, meaning that there will be “elections without candidates, or with nominal candidates to fill the void in many electoral districts,” pointing out that “the exacerbation of difficulties and obstacles threatens to alienate several party formations and push them toward extinction from the political scene.”
In a comprehensive assessment of the scene, the head of Al-Tala’i, a former parliamentarian, believes that “this systematic restriction heralds the inevitable exclusion of many political forces, especially those affiliated with the opposition, leading to the disappearance of many of them.”
In the context of expressing the same concerns, the First Secretary of the “Socialist Forces Front,” Youssef Oshish, confirmed to the “Al-Khabar” channel, which broadcasts its programs on YouTube, that the growing fears of the phenomenon of electoral reluctance “are the result of a legal system that frames the electoral process, and the product of a general political climate that does not encourage involvement in public affairs and elections at all.”
Oshish explained that his party seeks, within its capabilities, to “encourage Algerian citizens to engage in the electoral process and avoid political resignation.” Because abandoning the field leaves room for others to decide on their behalf.”
He added: “The accumulation of difficulties and problems pushed Algerians to resign from the political scene,” stressing that the responsibility for this reluctance lies primarily with the authority, which he calls upon to “rebuild the lost trust between society and its constitutional institutions.” He pointed out that his party seeks to “establish a new contract between the national state and local groups, based on a solid foundation of mutual trust.”
There is a consensus among observers that the concerns of these parties are the result of the preparatory process for the parliamentary elections that took place in July and its results. Before the start of voting, hundreds of candidates were excluded due to suspicion of corrupt money, and the voting percentage was very low. It did not exceed 21 percent. No official charges were brought against those who were excluded from the legislative elections.
With this broad exclusion, the matter reached the point where a number of parties did not present candidates in some states as a result of the intense activation of what was called “the guillotine of Article 200 of the Legislative Elections Law,” which requires that a candidate for Parliament “not be known to the public for his connection with suspicious financial and business circles, or for his direct or indirect influence on the freedom of choice of voters and the proper conduct of the electoral process,” just as Article 184 requires the same thing in municipal and state elections.
