Opposition parties to tour Algeria to secure citizens’ adhesion to their action-program

Algeria’s opposition parties and several national political figures have expressed their readiness to embark on an extensive tour of the country’s towns and cities in a bid to convince the Algerian citizens to adhere to their program of action aimed at securing a democratic change through a bona-fide political transition.

This came in the wake of a broad-based conference attended on Tuesday by representatives of a host of secular and Islamic opposition parties who unanimously agreed on the imperious need to foster a genuine democratic transition in the country.

Tuesday’s conference held in the sea resort of Zeralda west of Algiers is considered the largest since the start of pluralistic politics in Algeria in 1988. It brought together politicians from across the political spectrum, who once fought deadly battles in the past.

The conference brought together 400 Islamist and secular politicians, along with independents. These include former prime ministers Mouloud Hamrouche, Ali Benflis and Ahmed Benbitour, in addition to leaders of the banned Islamic Salvation Front.

Inside the conference halls, banners in Arabic and Tamazight called for a transitional phase, justice, ending political constraints, and respecting freedom and democracy.

Leader in the banned FIS Party,  Abdel Kader Boukhemkhem said that he took part in the conference as a representative of his party, stressing that his party “still exists in the political arena and has never been absent.” He added that his party “does not mind engaging with secularists and democrats,” whom he considered “brothers and fellow Algerians”, as he put it.

The conference revealed how the political discourse of the now disbanded FIS party has notably changed, shifting more towards advocating dialogue with secularists. That shift has been considered by the Islamist MSP Movement, as a quantum leap in their political practice.

Ali Benflis, the major rival of president Abdellaziz Bouteflika in the latest elections, said that Algeria is passing through a “political crisis which cannot be resolved except by changing the regime.”

He lashed out at the discussions around constitutional amendments held by the presidency, pointing out that “these amendments will not contribute to a change in the repressive nature of the regime, or subjecting the regime to popular oversight.”

Leader of the MSP movement Abdel-Razeq Makri considered June 10 a historic day “because it symbolizes the ability of the opposition to unite their stances.”

Former secretary general of the Socialist Forces’ Front (FFS) Karim Tabou said that the Mazafran conference is the beginning of bringing down “autocratic rule” in Algeria.