Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008
Soon after Algeria's independence in 1962, one of the so-called ‘Historic Leaders’ who had founded the Front de libération nationale (F.L.N.) in 1954, Mohamed Boudiaf, announced that the F.L.N. was dead and declared his opposition to Ahmed Bella's army-backed régime. Boudiaf explained why he disagreed with the policies and actions of the Government in a book entitled Ou va l' Algerie?, ‘Where is Algeria Going?’ (Paris, 1964), and remained in exile in Morocco until called back home in 1992 by the same army to preside over the Haut comité d' état (H.C.E.) that would suppress the electoral process and introduce another state of siege.
1 Balta, Paul, ‘Double défi pour l'Algérie’, in Revue des deux mondes (Paris), 10 1991, pp. 78–91.Google Scholar
2 See Waltz, Susan, ‘Making Waves: the political impact of human rights groups in North Africa’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 29, 3, 09 1991, pp. 481–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3 According to Le Monde (Paris), 5 11 1988, as many as 83.08 per cent of the registered electorate voted in the referendum, of whom 92.27 per cent were in favour of the reforms.Google Scholar
4 El Moudjahid (Algiers), 10 07 1989.Google Scholar
5 See Iratni, Belkacem and Tahi, Mohand Salah, ‘The Aftermath of Algeria's First Free Local Elections’, in Government and Opposition (London), 26, 4, 1991, pp. 466–79.Google Scholar
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7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Jeune Afrique (Paris), 1605, 2–810 1991, pp. 32–3.Google Scholar
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11 Ibid. 16 October 1991.
12 In the June 1990 local elections, 1,071,113 more Algerians had voted for the F.I.S. (4,331,492) and 632,291 more for the F.L.N. (2,245,798) than in December 1991.
13 Horizons (Algiers), 1 01 1992.Google Scholar
14 Libération (Paris), 3 01 1992Google Scholar. Although the organisers claimed that one million participated in the march, Algeria's News Agency (A.P.S.) put the figure at 800,000, while foreign correspondents estimated that over 500,000 took part.
15 Le Matin (Algiers), 3 01 1992.Google Scholar
16 The other four members of the H.C.E. were Ali Kafi, President of the Organisation nationale des moudjahidine (ex-servicemen); Tidjani Haddam, Rector of the Mosque of Paris; Ali Haroun, Minister of Human Rights; and Khaled Nezzar, Minister of Defence.
17 See Addi, Lahouari, ‘Algerie: le dérapage’ in Le Monde diplomatique (Paris), 02 1992, pp. 20–1.Google Scholar
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