In Algeria, it's the minority that wins

The Algerian people expressed themselves in the legislative elections of 12 June, and they did so through abstention. According to official figures, 77% of those eligible to vote refused to go to the polls. An inevitability? Not an expression of rejection... certainly a crisis of confidence... mistrust of those in power... no doubt.

If the majority of Algerians refused to elect their deputies, it is because they do not recognise themselves in these representatives and the President of the Republic is wrong to say that "the turnout rate does not matter". What matters to me is that those whom the people vote for have sufficient legitimacy. 

We live in a deep political crisis and if more than half of the people have refused to go to the polls, it is not just a contingent event.  

These millions of people who are boycotting send a very clear message that cannot be ignored or minimised. Believing in social cohesion or the possibility of democracy without the participation of the majority of the people is a delusion. These early legislative elections were a real fiasco. They were a fiasco, first of all, because of the unprecedented climate of fear and repression in which they took place. 

On the eve of the elections, arrests and police custody were part of the intimidation. Journalists Khaled Derarni and El Kadi Ihsane, as well as activist Karim Tabbou, were detained in a barracks for some 30 hours. Hirak lawyer and figurehead Bouchachi was also detained before being released at a time when more than 200 prisoners of conscience continue to languish in Algerian jails. These figures are chilling and do not augur well for any appeasement. 

The legislative elections were a fiasco because they failed to win the support of the opposition political parties, which withdrew one after another, as was the case with the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS) and the Workers' Party (PT).  

The very low turnout was predictable (it is almost nil in Kabylia). Within the Hirak protest movement, voices were raised calling for a boycott of the elections at a time when weekly marches were banned with a heavy security presence. 

The FLN, the former single party in power since the country's independence, won 105 of the 407 seats and, although it lost some voters, remains at the head of parliament. The symbolism is strong and recalls the past years and the impossible change that the Algerian street has been demanding for the past two years under the slogan: "Yetnehaw ga3" (let them all go!). 

The independents won 78 seats and are in second place. For the record, the state has financed them with 1.6 billion dinars, thus ensuring a hand in the election of candidates and aggravating the population's distrust of these lists, which claim to be non-partisan. 

Even before the official announcement of the results, the conservative Islamic Movement for Peace Society (MSP) had claimed victory, but only came in third place with 64 seats. Its strong presence in parliament was expected. Moreover, the president himself, in an interview with the French newspaper Le Point, said he was in favour of political Islam, citing Erdogan's Turkey as an example!

Abderrazak Makri, head of the MSP, declared during a press conference held at his party's headquarters in Algiers on Wednesday 16 June: "We are heading towards the construction of a national contract that will lead to a government of national unity".

The mass is said, the parties are done and congratulations have come from all sides ignoring the voice of the people. On the part of the FLN, they boast that they are not only still alive, but just as powerful. Thus, for a few years, the National People's Assembly will be in charge of legislating, of passing laws for millions of Algerians who rejected the electoral pact. 

In Algeria, it is the minority that wins the day!