Morsi’s ouster and ensuing unrest in Egypt shatters “Islamist project” in Algeria

The recent bloody events unfolding in Egypt as well as in Tunisia have somewhat dashed the hopes of the once self-confident Islamist trend in Algeria to grab power with a win during the upcoming presidential elections slated for April 2014.

The Islamist coalition are now dread a repeat in Algeria of the current worst-case scenario which has occurred in Egypt where the Armed Forces prodded by unflagging massive demonstrations against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood movement across the country have intervened and ousted democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi from power  touching off more unrest.

The Egyptian Army’s move led by General Abdel Fattah Al Sissi has further exacerbated the already volatile situation which has turned into fierce confrontations between the two rival camps causing hundreds of deaths and thousands of injured in Cairo and elsewhere in the country.

According to the leader of the New Algeria Front, Djamel Abdessalam, the Islamist project to reach power in Algeria is not ripe enough and still lacks the necessary political clout as it could face bitter and possibly violent resistance from various opposing forces on the home front.

For his part, a senior member of the Justice and Development Front, Lakhdar Benkhalfa, concurs and says that the Islamist project will be hard to be crowned with success as its proponents and advocates still lack widespread popular support in view of still vivid recollections of the tragic events witnessed by Algeria during the so-called “black decade” spawned by terrorist violence with its countless number of victims and the untold destruction of basic infrastructures across the national territory.

The Secretary General of the Annahda movement, Fethi Rebaine, said for his part that the Islamist coalition could only fulfill its objectives only through more cohesion and an all-out solidarity in the face of the power establishment whose only goal is cling to power against all odds.

Fethi Rebaine noted that the Islamist camp should close ranks and pool efforts under all circumstances in the hope of bringing the current regime to agree on the “cleansing” of the political life in Algeria through the enforcement of genuine democratic reforms and the enshrinement of a law-abiding state advocating a bona-fide pluralism and a changeover of political power between winning parties after free and fair elections devoid of any fraud or ballot-rigging.