Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ALGIERS1695
2007-11-21 11:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Algiers
Cable title:  

POLITICAL PARTIES CITE PROBLEMS WITH ELECTION

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM AG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2335
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1695/01 3251128
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211128Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4894
INFO RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0308
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 1361
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 6108
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2416
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 2024
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6883
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 8690
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3135
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001695 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM AG
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTIES CITE PROBLEMS WITH ELECTION
PROCESS

REF: A. ALGIERS 1662

B. ALGIERS 1344

C. ALGIERS 1629

D. ALGIERS 1658

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001695

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM AG
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTIES CITE PROBLEMS WITH ELECTION
PROCESS

REF: A. ALGIERS 1662

B. ALGIERS 1344

C. ALGIERS 1629

D. ALGIERS 1658

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The campaign process for the November 29
local elections is in full swing, but the process is not
fully transparent. In a series of meetings November 7-14, we
met to discuss the election process with representatives of
major coalition and opposition political parties, including
the Socialist Forces Front (FFS),National Liberation Front
(FLN),Society of Peace Movement (MSP),Rally for Culture and
Democracy (RCD),and National Democratic Rally (RND).
Conversations with party representatives lead us to believe
that the outcome will be based heavily on government
manipulation of candidate lists. END SUMMARY.

THE VIEW FROM RCD
--------------


2. (C) Mohamed Khandak, RCD local elections campaign
director, told us in a November 7 meeting that every election
in Algeria has elements of fraud, opining that the fraud
makes the elected official responsive to the individuals who
put them in positions of authority, rather than to the
voters. According to Khandak, the fraud that will occur in
the November 29 elections is part of a deliberate effort to
install a cadre who will support a third term for President
Bouteflika (refs C and D). Khandak added that similar
efforts are underway at the level of the senate. Further, he
claimed that interior ministry efforts were afoot to create
problems for opposition parties, including RCD, in order to
restrict them geographically to the northern center of the
country. Khandak provided several examples, both orally and
in writing, of perceived election-related irregularities.
Among them:

-- The interior ministry, while conducting the process to
determine the display and presentation of party posters and
bulletins, used the results of the last three legislative
elections to determine the order for the political parties.
RCD maintains that this ensures that the ruling coalition
parties (FLN, RND, MSP) are featured first. Khandak said
that this was in violation of voting rules and went against

the practices of previous elections.

-- In Berriane, the head of the local list was prevented from
running. Even though he participated as a candidate in the
May 17 legislative election, the interior ministry said that
he was a danger to society.

-- A candidate in Ghardaia was arrested by Information and
Security Service personnel (DRS) and held at the Ouargla
detention center, then later transferred to the Ben Aknoun
detention center in Algiers. He was asked to sign a document
saying that he would not reveal where he was detained.

-- In Djelfa, one proposed candidate was rejected as being
dead. After an investigation, it was shown that the
candidate has the same name as his grandfather, who died in

1991. Despite an appeal, the judge decided that the
government was right to reject the candidate.

THE VIEW FROM MSP
--------------


3. (C) In a November 12 meeting, MSP representatives Naamane
Laouar, in charge of the local elections committee, and
Abdelkrim Dahmane, in charge of external affairs and Algerian
expatriates, expressed considerable doubt about the
transparency of the November 29 local elections, pointing
specifically to the absence of an election monitoring
commission (ref A). According to Laouar and Dahmane, the
government refuses to have an election commission because it
says that it cannot afford one. MSP rejects that position,
they said, adding that for the past two years MSP has called
for the establishment of an unpaid election commission.
(Note: Members of previous election commissions have been

ALGIERS 00001695 002 OF 003


compensated. The interior ministry asserted that prospective
members of a commission this year demanded too much money.
End note.) By removing a financial incentive, they
maintained, the commission can remain independent. Laouar
and Dahmane called for changes to the country's electoral
laws to make the election process more free and said that the
outcome of elections is determined by the actions of the
interior ministry. Dahmane noted that in spite of MSP's
participation in the government's ruling coalition, the party
voices criticisms of the election process and is working
within the country's political system to bring about change.
They cited two examples of problems with the election process:

-- A former MSP senator's name was rejected from a local
slate because he was determined to be a "threat to public
order" even though he had served in the national senate.

-- The interior ministry maintains a file on individuals,
referred to as "Police Record #3," which contains
confidential information, including behavioral information,

SIPDIS
not accessible to the public. If a proposed candidate has
"negative" information in Record #3, then that individual is
barred from candidacy. There is no independent body that can
verify the validity of the interior ministry's decisions,
they noted. Moreover, the interior ministry, Laouar and
Dahmane said, often acts on false information.

THE VIEW FROM FFS
--------------


4. (C) Local elections coordinator for FFS and party First
Secretary Karim Tabbou told us in a November 14 meeting that

SIPDIS
politics in Algeria has been discredited. Tabbou opined that
there is a disconnect between Algerians and their government,
as evidenced by issues concerning the prices of oil and
potatoes (ref B). As a result, it was very difficult to get
Algerians to vote. Addressing FFS difficulties with the
November 2007 election process, Tabbou said the interior
ministry had rejected eight of the party's lists for
political reasons. He added that the party had been
prevented from presenting several other lists, but because
the lists had not been officially rejected the party was
unable to make any official appeals. Below are four specific
examples cited by FFS as challenges the party has faced in
the November 2007 election process:

-- In Chlef, FFS representatives were prevented from
presenting a list of candidates, despite arriving 20 minutes
before the midnight deadline.

-- The accreditation of a party representative was contested
because it was signed by former party first secretary Ali
Laskri and not the current first secretary Karim Tabbou.

-- In Setif, a list of candidates was rejected after
verification and registration, with no explanation given.
When an FFS representative lodged a protest, he was expelled
by force.

-- In El Oued, security guards pressured FFS candidates to
withdraw their candidacies.

BUT ALL IS WELL FOR THE FLN AND THE RND
--------------


5. (C) While the RCD, MSP and FFS are unhappy with aspects of
the election process, the FLN and RND seem less concerned.
In a November 13 meeting, FLN campaign director Frikha Amara
had no negative stories to recount concerning the election
process. He said that 800 FLN candidates had been rejected,
of which 200 had been successfully reinstated. He did not
comment on the remaining 600. Addressing the absence of an
independent election monitoring commission, Amara countered
that party representatives would be at each polling station
and they could insure the transparency of the process. He
also noted that the international media would be present to
monitor the events.


6. (C) Miloud Chorfi, RND campaign director, was similarly
complacent about the functioning of the election process. In
a November 14 meeting, Chorfi recounted his party's successes
over the years and expressed no opinion on the absence of an

ALGIERS 00001695 003 OF 003


independent election monitoring commission.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) The process leading up to the November 29 local
elections in Algeria, while not a total sham, is not a model
to be copied. From what we have reported and seen, we have
serious concerns about the transparency of the process and
the ability of political parties to function freely.
Interestingly, MSP's Dahmane told us that he had been an
election observer in Mauritania, as part of a National
Democratic Institute (NDI) program. He said that he found
the election process there to be far cleaner and more
credible than Algeria's, even with Mauritania's troubled
history.
FORD