LARGEST ALGERIAN OPPOSITION PARTY FACES EXCLUSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000282

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM AG
SUBJECT: LARGEST ALGERIAN OPPOSITION PARTY FACES EXCLUSION
FROM MAY 17 ELECTIONS

REF: A. ALGIERS 247


B. ALGIERS 109

Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: The Algerian Ministry of
Interior has disqualified the opposition Islamist party Islah
("Reform") from participating in the May 17 parliamentary
elections on the ground that its leader was not elected in a
recent party congress. Islah, which has the largest number
of seats in the current parliament of any party outside the
presidential alliance and claims to be the largest opposition
party by membership in the country, has appealed the decision
directly to Interior Minister Zerhouni. Our discussions of
the issue with the Islah leadership and legal experts have
revealed an arcane series of events leading to the
disqualification, but suggest strongly that the ministry's
decision was not based in Algerian law and was likely
political in motivation. In a March 5 meeting, the
Ambassador told the MFA Secretary General that we were
watching the electoral process closely, and hoped that it
would be competitive and transparent. An inclusive process
with broad participation by all political currents -- even
peaceful Islamists -- is most likely to isolate extremism in
Algeria, he stressed. We recommend that the Department
consider making the same points to the Algerian ambassador in
Washington. End Summary and Comment.

SURPRISE!
--------------


2. (U) On February 26, local officials in the town of Setif
informed Islah representatives that the Ministry of Interior
(MOI) had barred them from giving Islah the forms necessary
to register its candidates. Under the timetable established
by a presidential decree in February (ref A),Islah and other
political parties must file the forms with local election
authorities in each wilaya (province) no later than April 1.
Islah had successfully obtained the official forms from 15
other wilayas, according to press reports verified by Islah
officials, before they were prevented from doing so February
26 in Setif. Setif officials gave Islah representatives a
copy of an MOI instruction declaring that the party was
ineligible to participate in the May parliamentary elections
because it had not held a recent party congress to elect its
leadership.


3. (C) Islah party president Abdallah Djaballah, who has led
Islah since its founding in 1999, told DCM and PolEc Chief
March 4 that this turn of events and the timing of the
announcement were "a surprise for us and for everyone."
Djaballah, accompanied by Islah MP Lakhdar Benkhellaf and
party External Relations Director Bachir Kherfi, noted that
his party had participated in the December 2006 Senate
elections and in recent parliamentary by-elections without
incident. Moreover, he said, Prime Minister Belkhadem met
with him last fall in a round of discussions with party
leaders to discuss possible amendments to the election law
(ref B). Djaballah characterized the MOI decision, which was
never officially communicated to Islah's party headquarters,
as one grounded in politics, not law. Separately, we spoke
with four reputable Algerian attorneys, all of whom oppose
Islah's positions on political issues. All told us they
agreed with Djaballah that the decision was not based in law.


4. (C) Djaballah recalled that Belkhadem's National
Liberation Front (FLN) did not hold a party congress to elect
new leadership from 1989 to 1997, but nonetheless
participated in all local and national elections during that
period. He stressed that his party was the third-largest in
parliament and received 200,000 more votes in the last
legislative elections than the National Rally for Democracy
(RND) of former Prime Minister Ouyahia. Djaballah said Islah
was committed to seeking power through free, fair and
transparent elections; opposed violence; and believed the
nation (not God) established political institutions. As part
of its "constitutional vision," Islah believed that
wide-ranging reforms in Algeria were needed. Unlike other
political parties, he added, Islah would not compromise away
its values to join the ruling coalition.

COMPLICATED SHENANIGANS

--------------


5. (C) Djaballah recounted for us the series of events
leading up to and following the February 26 surprise. He
showed us copies of four requests that Islah submitted at
various times between late 2004 and mid-February seeking
required MOI approval for a party congress. The MOI denied
each of the requests, according to Djaballah, on the basis
that a legal action was ongoing against the party. The
action in question was a challenge from Mohamed Boulahia, a
former senior Islah member expelled by the party's
disciplinary commitee in December 2004. The MOI had
maintained that until the courts delivered a final ruling on
Boulahia's complaint, the ministry could not establish with
certainty the legitimate leader of the party for the purposes
of organizing a party congress. Djaballah said an Algiers
court ruled against Boulahia on June 12, 2006. An appellate
court upheld the decision in October 2006. Despite the court
rulings, the MOI still turned down Djaballah's requests to
hold a party congress.


6. (C) The same day Islah learned of the disqualification,
Boulahia filed a request with the MOI to organize a March 1
Islah party congress. The MOI approved the request in the
minimum three days allowed under the Emergency Law for
approving a public meeting, and Boulahia published an
announcement of the meeting in the February 28 issue of El
Khabar, Algeria's largest-circulating daily newspaper.
Djaballah and his supporters saw the announcement and rallied
the party's "legitimate" members to attend. They told us
that when Djaballah's supporters tried to enter the meeting
hall, Boulahia's supporters instructed police to deny entry
to them and their supporters. The 1,567 Islah members denied
entry, according to Djaballah, moved to another nearby
location and signed a document attesting to the police
action. Meanwhile, Boulahia was elected the new head of the
party. (Note: Djaballah and his team remain the official
leaders of Islah until the MOI certifies the election result.
End Note.) Djaballah maintained that the decision to allow
Boulahia to organize a meeting in Algiers was inconsistent
with recent authorized meetings Islah had held in the towns
of Annaba, Tlemcen, Constantine and elsewhere.


7. (C) Djaballah told us he met March 2 with Interior
Minister Zerhouni and provided him with a thick file (a copy
of which was shown to us) outlining why he believed the MOI
decision to recognize Boulahia's party congress was
incorrect. The file included evidence of the disciplinary
action taken against Boulahia and his supporters, and
outlined how party procedures had been violated in calling
for the congress. According to Islah's relevant bylaws,
which we reviewed, a party congress can be called every five
years by the president of the party (Djaballah) or with the
consent of two-thirds of the members of the national
executive committee. Neither provision was followed in this
case, said Djaballah. Djaballah also gave Zerhouni copies of
the previous requests for permission to hold a party
congress, plus the legal documents surrounding the Boulahia
case. Zerhouni told Djaballah he would review them.

LIMITED OPTIONS
--------------


8. (C) Djaballah said there was not enough time before the
April 1 filing deadline to organize a new party of Islah
members loyal to him under a different name. The only way
for Islah to compete in the May elections under his
leadership -- unless Zerhouni overturned the results of the
March 1 "party congress" -- was to qualify candidates for the
ballot as independents. The signatures of 400 registered
voters are required for the name of an independent candidate
to appear on the ballot. Djaballah said a party as well
organized as Islah could easily collect the signatures.
Qualifying independent candidates under the circumstances, he
said, was nevertheless an uphill battle.


9. (C) Djaballah feared that local election officials would
invalidate the signatures. The officials must conduct a
random sampling of signatories to verify their identity. If
even one voter who is summoned to appear at a specific date
and time fails to show, all the signatures collected for the
candidate can be invalidated. (Note: Djaballah's explanation

of the signature process is correct according to other
political party officials and attorneys we contacted. End
Note.)

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


10. (C) Interior Minister Zerhouni is a confidant of
President Bouteflika, who has made no secret over the years
of his dislike of Djaballah (though Djaballah painstakingly
avoided criticizing Bouteflika during his meeting with us).
The lengthy background to Djaballah's story suggests that the
Ministry of Interior has been working for some time to keep
Islah's legal status open to challenge. Given that lawyers
we contacted have found no legal basis for the MOI decisions,
and that Zerhouni himself has cited no particular Algerian
law in publicly justifying his ministry's actions, we believe
the decision to prevent Islah from fielding candidates in the
May elections is political and unlikely to be reversed. In
this regard, the MOI decision also theoretically applies to a
number of smaller opposition parties, but according to
Djaballah, none of them has been notified that it is
disqualified.


11. (C) The Ambassador stressed to the number-two official in
the MFA on March 5 that we wanted to see an open and fair
electoral process leading up to the May vote. He underscored
that the U.S. hoped the Algerian election would be inclusive
-- even of Islamists -- so as to isolate extremists. The MFA
SecGen did not challenge the thrust of the Ambassador's
remarks, but responded by suggesting that Islah was a party
riven be internal divisions. If Djaballah couldn't repair
the divisions, the SecGen said, he could always run
independent candidates. We will be watching that process as
it unfolds, and looking for opportunities to press other GOA
officials on the need for inclusiveness. We recommend the
Department echo that message to the Algerian ambassador in
Washington without being drawn into an argument about the
legalities of Djaballah's case.
FORD