FLAGSHIP NATIONAL PARTY IN TURMOIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001658 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017 TAGS: PGOV KDEM AG SUBJECT: FLAGSHIP NATIONAL PARTY IN TURMOIL REF: A. ALGIERS 1629 ¶B. ALGIERS 1559 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In the run-up to the November 29 local elections, the National Liberation Front (FLN) is wrestling with a crisis of leadership and direction, as party national leaders battle for control over local candidate slates. Daily press reports feature repeated calls for Prime Minister Belkhadem to resign as party leader or as head of the government. The efforts of the center to assert control over the periphery are themselves divided, and have even erupted into physical violence among high-ranking party officials. Yet the FLN remains the vehicle of choice for the Algerian government to exercise and consolidate power, and the central drive to control the periphery may be partly an effort to pave the way for an unprecedented third term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2009 (ref A). Meanwhile, party headquarters in Algiers is extremely busy, as new and younger members join and seek local office. For many of these, however, the FLN is a shell of its former self, gutted by mismanagement. Their interest is driven less by ideology than by opportunism, since the FLN remains a powerful symbol of the nation and therefore offers the best way for new opportunists to get their hands on political and eocnomic spoils otherwise out of reach. END SUMMARY. FISTICUFFS IN ORAN -------------- ¶2. (C) The leading Arabic daily El Khabar reported on November 11 the bizarre tale of Abdelhamid Si Affif and Hassan Tayeb Ibrahim. Affif, president of the foreign affairs committee of parliament, came to blows with Ibrahim, a senator, following a press conference held by Affif in Oran. Affif is know to be a supporter of PM Belkhadem, the leader of the FLN, while Ibrahim is a prominent figure of internal dissent within the party known to be critical of Belkhadem's leadership and more sympathetic to former Prime Minister Benflis. Abdelhaq Belayat, a member of FLN's executive secretariat, a former senator, and veteran of the war for independence, told us November 12 that the press reports were true, and that both camps were struggling for control over the region of Oran. Immediately following Affif's press conference, Ibrahim and his followers began shouting insults at Affif, which escalated until the two men and their entourages came to blows. Affif had the upper hand, as Ibrahim wound up in the hospital with a broken leg. CENTER "MUST IMPOSE DISCIPLINE" -------------- ¶3. (C) Belayat made clear his own opposition to the leadership of Bekhadem, saying that "mismanagement" was responsible for the current crisis within the party. Belayat said the center "must impose discipline" after years of laissez-faire management in order to prevent embarassments like the scuffle in Oran from erupting in public. According to journalist Nadia Mellal of the French-language daily Liberte, Belkhadem is acting as the enforcer for the regime, atttempting to impose his own candidates and control over local party activists who resent his intervention. The problem, explained Mellal, is that the FLN has sacrificed competence for loyalty as Belkhadem has placed hand-picked corrupt and inexperienced candidates on local lists, even including a known former prostitute in one district of Algiers (ref B). Other factions at the center, especially the Ibrahim camp, have also been angered by Belkhadem's choices, and it is this anger that led to the public scuffle in Oran. A well-connected contact in Oran said that local branches of the FLN are in revolt against the intervention of the center, not only because they feel the principle of local autonomy has been violated but also because of the quality of the people Belkhadem is seeking to impose. Press reports over the last two weeks have speculated that Belkhadem's own tenure at the head of the FLN is in doubt over the internal party rebellions he has created. "The regime is pushing for greater control over the regions," summarized our contact in Oran, "but it still has an interest in imposing competence and not corruption." ALGIERS 00001658 002 OF 003 THE PRIZE: A THIRD TERM -------------- ¶4. (C) Affif himself had lunch with the Ambassador on November 5, less than a week before his impromptu brawl in Oran. As reported in ref A, Affif outlined the mission of the pro-Belkhadem camp within the FLN -- to seed the wilayas and local election districts with enough loyalists to support a call for a third term for President Bouteflika. Publicly it would thus appear that the amendment of the constitution to make way for Bouteflika's third term was in response to popular demand, rather than a result of attempts by FLN hardliners to hold on to power at all costs. Affif conceded to the Ambassador that he was personally responsible for managing all of the FLN candidate lists for western Algeria with this goal in mind. ABUZZ WITH ACTIVITY AND OPPORTUNISTS -------------- ¶5. (C) We visited FLN national headquarters on October 23 and November 12, and observed a high level of activity both times. On October 23, we met with MP Mohammed Abbou and Mourad Lamoudi, FLN external relations liaison and executive committee member. Our meeting was interrupted numerous times by party loyalists asking questions and seeking guidance, as the FLN headquarters bustled with a level of activity not seen at any of the other party headquarters we have visited. "We know that demographics are changing and we are therefore engaging a younger generation," explained Lamoudi, as he highlighted a surge in membership across the country. Optimistic and serene, he said that what the press had reported as an internal crisis in leadership was really just a transition to a new direction and new leadership, as the FLN sought to pass the torch to younger hands. When pushed for specifics on the FLN's platform and policies, neither Abbou, Lamoudi nor Belayat on November 12 had any details to offer, leaving the impression that the FLN was merely a vehicle for the exercise of power for its own sake. ¶6. (C) The new FLN recruits might be younger in many cases, but they appear to be opportunists rather than reform-minded idealists. Hamdi Aissa, who met with us on October 1, is a new member of parliament and chairman of his own oil and gas pipeline company. Although 48 years old, he said he considers himself part of a new generation of leaders, relative to the veterans of the 1950s war for independence still in power. Aissa viewed his role in parliament as one that might help change the "socialist mindset" that has poisoned the business climate. He also said he chose the FLN not because of ideology, but because it offered the biggest soap box from which he could promote his agenda. Aissa also conceded that he was persuaded to join the FLN because Prime Minister Belkhadem hailed from his hometown. Today, pipeline company chairman Aissa sits on the parliamentary committee for energy and industry -- even though he admits that the majority of his business comes from government contracts with Sonatrach, the parastatal hydrocarbon giant. A DINOSAUR WITH NO EXTINCTION IN SIGHT -------------- ¶7. (C) Journalist Feycal Mentouri of the French-language daily El Watan echoed what we have heard from present and former FLN politicos such as Houria Bouhired, who was the MP for Algiers' Bab el Oued district until May of this year. According to Mentouri, Algerians are resentful that the current FLN leadership has gutted such a powerful symbol of national pride and identity, while they feel protective of the symbol itself. Bouhired described the FLN as a "dinosaur" that had probably outlived its life expectancy and lost touch with its founding ideology. It has simply become, she said, a front used by the regime to legitimize its naked pursuit of power. Belayat echoed the same sentiment from within FLN headquarters on November 12, saying that the FLN was plagued by "opportunists" seeking to use the party as a vehicle for personal gain. "Don't worry," Mentouri concluded, "the FLN is not going anywhere. Too many people have a stake in it." COMMENT: THE LEAKING CUP -------------- ALGIERS 00001658 003 OF 003 ¶8. (C) The FLN is in turmoil, torn by an effort led by Belkhadem to exercise greater control over the regions at all cost in order to facilitate a political agenda that may include a third term for President Bouteflika. The result is a leadership struggle at the national level against those who oppose Belkhadem's choices, and another struggle at the local level as loyalists rebel against the power play from the center. Our sources agree that the FLN is now merely a symbol providing cover for the exercise of power and personal gain, rather than a party with a concrete agenda for political and economic reform. The FLN, they agree, has long since lost the ideological substance and credibility it had after independence, even though it is still led by individuals from that same generation. A fitting vignette came from our meeting with Belayat at FLN headquarters on November 12. He proudly presented a stack of shiny wax paper cups emblazoned with slick graphics and FLN slogans promoting the party and agenda. Within minutes of offering us water, the bottom of the cups soaked through. We were left with a puddle of water on the table and an embarassed senior FLN official beside us. DAUGHTON