A meeting of Algeria's ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party at the Club des Pins in Algiers turned violent yesterday as members clashed over the election of a new secretary general. The event quickly descended into chaos, with some attendees coming to blows. Tensions were palpable from the start as senior party officials arrived, and it took several attempts to calm the situation and begin the proceedings.
Despite efforts to restore order, the session remained tumultuous, with members of the Committee Central struggling to designate a bureau to oversee the extraordinary session. Mohamed Boumehdi intervened to partially restore calm, but voices continued to be raised to challenge the presence of certain "undesirable" personalities in the room. The session was marked by the absence of several high-ranking current members of the Committee Central.
Notable absentees included Djamel Ould Abbès, Bellayat, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, and Moad Bouchareb, the current party leader, who is reportedly unpopular among Committee Central members. Despite these absences, 347 of the 490 Committee Central members were present, with 37 having granted proxies to their peers. At the start of the proceedings, Mohamed Boumahdi announced that Djamel Ould Abbès had submitted his resignation and proposed that his status as Committee Central member be suspended.
The meeting saw several significant developments, including the announcement by Saïd Bouhadja, a former president of the National People's Assembly (APN), that he was running for the leadership of the FLN. Another figure, Abdelkader Khomri, a former minister of youth and sports, created a stir by announcing his resignation from the Committee Central. Khomri cited the FLN's deviation from its founding principles and infiltration by outsiders as reasons for his departure.
Khomri also expressed concerns about the party's legitimacy since Djamel Ould Abbès took over as leader. Initially, 29 FLN cadres had expressed interest in running for the secretary general position, but only 12 ultimately submitted their candidacies. These candidates were relatively unknown, and the election process had begun before being halted by the session's presiding officer.
The presiding officer, who announced the indefinite postponement of the vote, cited the need for further consultation. The FLN, which has been Algeria's ruling party since independence, has been facing internal divisions and challenges in recent years. The party's leadership has been criticized for its handling of various issues, including economic and social challenges facing the country.
The postponement of the election has raised questions about the party's ability to reform and address the concerns of its members and the wider Algerian public. The FLN's internal struggles have implications for the country's politics, as the party has traditionally played a dominant role in Algerian politics.
Key points
- The FLN meeting was marked by violence and disagreements over the election of a new secretary general.
- Several high-ranking party officials were absent from the meeting, including the current party leader Moad Bouchareb.
- The election of a new secretary general has been postponed indefinitely due to internal divisions within the party.
