Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ALGIERS1323
2007-09-17 17:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Algiers
Cable title:  

FFS: THE SECULAR OPPOSITION STIRS

Tags:  PREL PGOV AG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9556
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1323/01 2601715
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 171715Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4459
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2339
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 8624
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1931
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6781
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 6039
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1297
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0243
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3057
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001323 

SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV AG
SUBJECT: FFS: THE SECULAR OPPOSITION STIRS


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001323

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV AG
SUBJECT: FFS: THE SECULAR OPPOSITION STIRS


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Algerian media has been buzzing with the
return from Switzerland of liberation hero Hocine Ait Ahmed,
founder of the opposition Front des Forces Socialistes (FFS),
and his alliance with former FLN Secretary General Abdelhamid
Mehri and former Prime Minister Mouloud Hamrouche.
Front-page articles have hailed the troika as the secular
"alternative" to lift Algeria out of its current crisis. The
three men represent a carefully planned alliance beyond
strict party lines, designed to re-energize the FFS and
transform it from a largely regional party to a national one,
with the support and credibility to match. Although the FFS
clearly has the November 29 local elections in its immediate
sights, the current level of activity is unusual and highly
significant -- a quantum leap from the usual clamorous
fumbling of Algeria's opposition parties. END SUMMARY.

A HERO RETURNS
--------------


2. (U) The FFS held its fourth party congress on September 6
at a conference hall near the beach in Zeralda, some 20km
east of Algiers. Billed as "the Congress of the Millenium,"
it featured the triumphant return of FFS founder Hocine Ait
Ahmed, a national hero from the Algerian war of independence
against the French. The FFS, founded in 1963, is Algeria's
oldest opposition party and was originally a Berber party.
Recent internal divisions and weakness within the FFS drove
Ait Ahmed, now over 80 years old, to return from self-imposed
exile in Switzerland to unite his party and acknowledge the
need to give the FFS a future that did not depend exclusively
on him. Ait Ahmed's shadow is huge, and his credibility make
for big shoes to fill. After two days, the FFS elected Karim
Tabbou as first national secretary. Tabbou is young,
ambitious and well-educated, but he lacks Ait Ahmed's
charisma and hallowed nationalist credentials.

A SECULAR TRINITY EMERGES
--------------


3. (U) After receiving a rock star's welcome from a throng of
journalists and thousands of supporters, Ait Ahmed gave a
speech that revealed his eloquence but also his age. He

occasionally lost track of the pages in his hand, as well as
the position of the microphone. Nevertheless, standing
ovations greeted his criticism of President Bouteflika's
regime and his appeal for more social justice, democracy and
greater transparency in Algerian society. His speech, given
mostly in French with brief turns of halting Arabic, seemed
designed to rally the party faithful more than anything else,
as he paved the way for the two more blatantly political
speeches that followed. (Note: No Tamazight, the main
Algerian Berber language, was used in any of the three
speeches. The presenters used French and Arabic, to appeal
to a national rather than a regional base. End note.)


4. (U) The second speaker was Abdelhamid Mehri, who carries a
great deal of current political credibility as the former
secretary general of the ruling FLN. Mehri spoke exclusively

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in Arabic, delving in greater detail into the current
political stagnation gripping Algeria. Although not
historically part of the FFS, Mehri praised the party
faithful for persevering during the 1990s and for overcoming
their internal divisions. Despite losing many intellectuals
during those years, Mehri proclaimed, the FFS was alive and
well and "still had a captain on board" in Ait Ahmed. Mehri
ratcheted criticism of the regime up a notch, denouncing the
recurring rumors of imminent constitutional change to provide
President Bouteflika with a third term and increase the
powers of the cabinet. The problem, he said, was not
changing the constitution but rather "getting the politicians
to respect the constitution they have."


5. (U) The crescendo continued with the "guest of honor" of
the party congress, Mouloud Hamrouche, a former FLN prime
minister. With an impassioned delivery and rhetorical style,
Hamrouche gave a speech that whipped the crowd of thousands
into a frenzy. He had to pause repeatedly to calm down a
crowd that threatened to go beyond the message he intended to
deliver. His statement that "the government has no national
identity and offers nothing to its citizens" was followed by
an emotional account of the current socioeconomic tragedy: at

ALGIERS 00001323 002 OF 002


a time of unprecedented wealth, young people (the "harraga")
risk their lives daily to escape in tiny boats to Europe
because a frozen and stagnant government "failed to offer
them any alternative." The crowd's response of "pouvoir
assassin" (murderous regime) resembled a soccer match more
than a political event.


6. (C) COMMENT: This troika is without a doubt the best hope
for the Algerian secular opposition we have seen. Their
alliance is carefully calculated to unite the past
nationalist appeal of Ait Ahmed and the present political
credibility of Mehri with Hamrouche's potential as a future
national leader. Together they make for a powerful and
balanced team, and although their appeal transcends narrow
FFS party lines, their coming out at the FFS party congress
was electric. Clearly Algerians are hungry for an
alternative, and it is reasonable to assume that the
Presidency and/or the military find some limited comfort in a
popular secular opposition that can help drain support from
the fragmented Islamist opposition parties as well as present
the appearance of genuine democracy. These events also seem
to have been successful in rejuvenating the FFS, although
this new political force will not face its first real test
until the November local elections.
FORD