Chadli was mocked because he ousted the barons of the old guard

I didn’t expect a day will come I would meet the president Chadli Bendjedid as I was a student abroad during his first mandate away from the political conflicts that were prevailing on the scene then.

But I was aware of the jokes played on him that I knew, after six years of close contact with him , that they were invented by his opponents from the old guard who were ousted by him like in a flash.

I crossed through the second mandate unaware of these silly satirical jokes because I realized that Chadli’s attempts to reform the political system in Algeria and the economic one were doomed to fail, because the regime was deeply rooted and impervious to any change.

Firsts meeting with Chadli

One day, my friend Ismail Ameziane, the publisher of Casbah Editions, asked me to meet him for an urgent matter. As we were riding the car to an unknown destination, he launched: We are going to meet Chadli. I replied: Eh Chadli? He said the president Bendjedid and you are going to write his memoirs.

In his villa, I saw him sitting in a corner and came to my mind one character from the novels of the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the man looked like a patriarch living in a complete seclusion. But I knew after that he chose this isolation and has always refused to meet the Algerian officials. I woke up to reality when he said to me: “ welcome, have a sit and take some coffee”.

The man was still in shape despite his age, he didn’t change a lot and looked very like the US actor Jeff Chandler. He wad vey upset by the allegations that he enlisted in the French army declaring forcefully that he joined the Algerian revolutionary army along with his father in 1955.

I have never seen in my life a man talking about his father like Chadli did with his own , El Hadi Bendjedid, his admiration neared idolization. He dwelt on his period in power and mentioned those who billed “ malevolent”, his opponents who showed force opposition to his reforms.

We were listening to him without interruption as he was moving from one issue to another. At the end, he wished us goodbye and Ismail turned to me and said” Your task will be tough” , I replied “ It’s worth venturing”.

I knew that many historians, writers and media professionals tried to get in touch with him in order collect his memoirs or make lengthy interviews but he refused arguing that time was not appropriate for that.

Among them, the French writer Benjamin Stora, the Tunisian channel “ Al Moustakila”, “ El Jazeera”, “ Al Arabia” and the Algerian media professionals Mohamed Benchico, Habet Hannachi and Hmida Al Ayachi.

When Chadli mourns Seddik Benyahia

During our second meeting I cut him short while he was replying on a previous question, so he nervously reacted” You don’t understand”. I kept silent for a while than he said” Why don’t you ask me?” So I replied: I prefer not to if it bothers you. He replied apologetically

” Sorry, I didn’t mean, I must admit that the drugs I’m taking drive me crazy and affect even my family members, including my wife and my children”.

One day, I mentioned his former minister of foreign affairs Mohamed Seddik Benyahia and suddenly burst in cries. I was really upset when I forwarded to him a handkerchief. He kept silent for a while and said “ If I had five ministers like him, I would have transformed Algeria in a regional superpower”.

Four weeks before his death, I met him and realized that his health has deteriorated. He wanted to accompany me to the door but refused politely, but two days after, he called me on the phone and said” Abdelaziz you are my brother, watch after my memoirs”.